Mr. Skimpole thinks drones have a wonderful life.
"He must say he thought a Drone the embodiment of a pleasanter and wiser idea. The Drone said, unaffectedly, “You will excuse me; I really cannot attend to the shop! I find myself in a world in which there is so much to see, and so short a time to see it in, that I must take the liberty of looking about me, and begging to be provided for by somebody who doesn’t want to look about him.” This appeared to Mr Skimpole to be the Drone philosophy, and he thought it a very good philosophy — always supposing the Drone to be willing to be on good terms with the Bee: which, so far as he knew, the easy fellow always was, if the consequential creature would only let him, and not be so conceited about his honey!"

It is not clear how much Dickens knew about drone, or how much Mr. Skimpole knew about drones. The drones' life up to the time the queen is fertilised is all play and no work.
But.....when the queen is fertilised, all the drones are killed off.