The role of drones in the hive

The drones or male bees , are present inside each hive in fewer numbers than the worker bees. Their role covers a very specific function that revolves around a single factor: coupling. In the world of bees, however, despite the presence of a large number of females, the only one capable of being fertilized is without exception the queen bee. Let's find out more.

What the colony drones do

The drones play a marginal role within the colony . Once the adult stage is reached, the male bees take care of fertilizing the queen bee through the mating flight called nuptial flight . As for the rest, it can be said that males have a very limited function in the entire survival mechanism of the hive. However, in addition to their role as fertilizers, it seems that the drones also contribute in part to keeping the brood warm, as well as actively participating in trophylaxis, that is the circulation within the colony of the food and with it of the queen's pheromones.

As regards the rest of the tasks to be carried out within the swarm , the worker bees take care of them and remain active at all hours of the day and night to keep the hive in optimal conditions, intervene where it is needed, prepare food supplies and take care of the queen and the larvae. Worker bees are capable of dividing tasks in a truly surprising way. There are nurse bees, sweepers, explorer bees and foragers and so on. In all the work that the swarm does therefore, the drones contribute very little.

Recognizing drones: development and characteristics

Drones develop from unfertilized eggs . We know very well that bees can choose the sex of the larvae in advance. Only female bees can be born from fertilized eggs from which a worker or a queen bee will develop, while only and exclusively drones will develop from unfertilized eggs.

It is possible to recognize drones from female bees based on very evident body characteristics. First of all, male bees have a body that is generally larger than that of a worker bee. The most relevant sign of recognition, however, is given by a non-negligible factor: the drones do not possess the sting. Being a purely female organ, the drones do not have it and it is possible to notice how the part of their body ends in a clear, almost rectangular way, while in the females there is a final part of the body with a classic "V" shape.

Fatal mating flight

If there is one thing that is important to know, it is precisely this: after mating, the drones die.

Yes, it's a cruel fate but we know how often nature is able to create such strange and unusual mechanisms. Although mating is the primary role of male bees, immediately after the completion of the act, they collapse to the ground and without any vital force, they die.

Mating takes place in flight. During the nuptial flight, the queen bee will mate with all the drones present in the nearby hives. When the queen is ready, she begins to emit a series of olfactory hormones that will attract all the males in the vicinity. In the mating flight, therefore, the queen will be able to accumulate a sufficient quantity of semen to fertilize her eggs during the rest of her life. In fact, the queen bee is equipped with special internal pockets that will allow it to store as much seed as possible inside her body.

Once the mating act has taken place, the male will leave his reproductive organ inside the queen and the same fate will befall all her successors. In fact, at the end of each fertilization, the male organ detaches and for this reason causes the death of the drones .

How drones feed

Drones are not independent animals at all. Also with regard to nourishment, they need the help of females who carry food in the hive which they will be able to use. Based on the anatomy of males, sucking up the nectar of flowers becomes impossible and for this reason the drones are unable to get food on their own. More specifically, worker bees have a sort of proboscis that they need to reach the center of the flower and suck up the nectar. The proboscis of the drones, on the other hand, is really very short and for this reason they have a lot of difficulty in feeding.

Return to the hive

After the mating flight , not all the drones were able to mate. Some, the weaker ones, are unable to reach the flight height at which the queen must be fertilized. For this reason it happens that part of them return to the hive. Once here, however, the workers refuse to welcome them again and stop providing them with food. For this reason the drones that did not die during the nuptial flight will also die of hunger.

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