The life of the drones inside the hive

Male bees play a completely marginal role: this is what they do

Have you ever wondered what the life of drones is like in the hive? When we analyze the world of bees, we almost always focus on the life of the queen bee , its importance and all the tireless work done by the workers. And what about the drones? How do the male bees behave inside the colony?

Drones are the most "expendable" part of a swarm. The tasks that males carry out within the family are very limited. Their primary and essential role is only one: coupling .

Thanks to the fertilization by the drones, the queen bees will be able to produce fertilized eggs from which other female bees will be born. In this way the swarm continues to survive thanks to the creation of new generations of bees.

Let's find out what the life of drones is like in the hive and what happens after the mating flight with the queen.

The main role of drones: mating

The life cycle of a drone is approximately 20 days. During their short life, they will dedicate themselves to the fertilization of virgin queen bees . With the exception of this process, the drones almost never participate in life in the hive. Unlike worker bees, drones are not as hardworking and operational and contribute very little to the swarm.

While the life of a kelp may seem pleasant, in reality not all that glitters is gold. In fact, nature has reserved a rather cruel fate for these insects. Let's find out what happens after the mating flight.

Queen bee and nuptial flight

The nuptial flight is the mating flight that takes place between a virgin queen bee and hundreds of drones . The nuptial flight takes place in specific gathering points where the virgin queens are immediately joined by numerous drones from all the nearby hives.

The production of pheromones by queens attracts males even if they are miles away! The mating flight takes place at about 600 meters high! Here, the males take turns mating with the queen and at the end of the process, they die.

Each drone dies after mating . This happens because its reproductive organ gets stuck in the queen and, due to the pressure to which it is subjected, it detaches. This is the sad fate of every kelp.

The mating flight occurs only once in the life of a queen bee. At the end of mating, a queen bee becomes fertile. After the nuptial flight, the queen has stored enough seed inside her "spermatheca" to fertilize the eggs for several years.

Why are drones the most expendable part?

The drones are insects that reach about 15 millimeters . They are larger than other worker bees but unlike the latter, drones do not have a stinger.

Precisely because of this lack, the drones can't even take care of defending the hive. In fact, the sting is a purely female organ. The workers use it as a defense weapon, while the queen bee uses it to lay eggs.

Drones also have different mouthparts than females. They have a shorter tongue which does not allow them to suck nectar directly from the flowers. The drones must therefore be fed by the workers who provide them with the supplies of honey or, they give it to them as when the drones were in the larval state.

Drones don't even come with pollen bags and therefore can't forage. Some studies have shown that sometimes, drones contribute at least to the production of heat inside the hive.

If the resources are insufficient, the drones would be the most expendable part. In fact, it happens that the workers let them die. This happens for example when food supplies are scarce or in cases in which a drone does not carry out the mating flight correctly.

When a kelp fails to mate with the queen and re-enters the hive, it no longer has any use for the swarm. In this case, in fact, the worker bees stop providing him with nourishment and leave him to die. Bees cannot afford to consume food supplies. For this reason, drones that are not useful for reproduction are hunted or killed.

In other cases, the infertile drones that cannot participate in the nuptial flight, are used as bait for any predators, diverting attention from the queens that instead constitute a vital resource for the hive.

Male bees are unable to survive alone

If it weren't for the contribution of the worker bees, the drones wouldn't be able to survive a single day. Not being able to feed on their own, the life of the drones is closely related to that of the females of the colony. The kelp is born from unfertilized eggs while female bees are born from fertilized eggs. The workers take care of them from the larval stage up to the adult stage.

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