This blog entry is all about the drone. No, not the flying devices the government is using to spy on you. I’m talking about the drones in a bee colony. For all those who don’t know, there are three main castes in every bee colony. There is the queen bee, the worker bees, and the drones.
The queen is the matriarch of the colony. She lays all the eggs. To learn all about her, check out our earlier blog post. The majority of the colony is comprised of worker bees. Worker bees are all females and are responsible for the care of the queen and the protection of of the hive.
Drone: The male bee
Drones are male honeybees. Drones are not worker bees and they do not work or lay eggs. Drones serve one main purpose. They exist solely to mate with the queen. Right about now all you male readers may think “Wow, what a great gig!”. Sorry to burst your bubble guys. The reality is that drones have it tough!
You see if the drone is successful in mating with the Queen, he immediately dies. How the drone dies is particularly brutal, and way too violent to discuss here, on my PG rated blog! If you are curious you can always check out this great blog titled “Sexual Suicide by Honey Bees“.
So what happens if a drone doesn’t mate with the queen? Do they get to hang around and try again later? The answer is not for long. Before the autumn months set in, the female workers unite together to keep the drones out of the hive. Ultimately the drones will either freeze, starve, or become ripped apart by the female workers.
Survival of the hive is the number one concern for worker bees. In the eyes of the female worker bee, drone bees are nothing but a bunch of honey gobblers. Worker bees need the honey reserves to get through the winter. Since drones don’t work, and since they have failed to mate with the queen, they are nothing but a drain to the colony.
Annie ain’t got nothing on these bees. For the drone, it truly is a “hard knock life”.
