Drone Life In A Bee Family

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

A drone is a male bee. He is an essential member of the bee family. Each such family, obeying the reproductive instinct, is forced to raise drones. These males are born from unfertilized eggs. Drone eggs remain unfertilized because the queen bee does not release sperm from the spermatozoa as these eggs pass through the vagina.

This is due to the fact that worker bees build drone cells of a larger size than for hatching worker bees. When eggs are laid in a wider drone cell, the sensitive hairs on the abdomen of the uterus are not compressed, and there is no impulse to the muscles of the spermatic pump.

There are about a thousand drones in one bee family. It happens that their number sometimes reaches several thousand. The bee colony

needs them only for mating with queen bees. Drones can fertilize not only the uterus from their own family, but also other people's queens from other families. To search for alien queens, they can fly away from their hive at a distance of up to 10 km. Mating of a drone with a queen takes place in the air in clear warm weather: the temperature should not be lower than 25 degrees Celsius.

According to scientists, drones have very well developed eyesight, which helps them quickly find the uterus during mating flight. Only the drone fertilizes the uterus, which is the first to overtake it in the air. During mating, he dies - the uterus pulls out the genitals from him and returns with them to her family. Probably, by this she proves her successful fertilization to the bees. Previously, scientists believed that the queen was fertilized by only one drone, but today it has been established that she makes several mating flights and is fertilized by several drones from different bee colonies, which may even have different breeds.

In a bee family, all work is carried out by hive bees. Due to the fact that the proboscis of the drones is underdeveloped, they cannot get their own food and feed on their own, therefore they are completely dependent on the worker bees, who feed, water and protect the "idle drones" all summer. If the queen bee can stand up for herself, since she also has a sting, then the drones do not even have this weapon. Therefore, they are completely defenseless. If it becomes necessary to protect your hive from uninvited guests, then the drone as a protector will be completely useless.

Bee males feed on nectar or fresh honey. But at the end of summer, when the bees stop raising young queens and they bring less and less nectar, there is no need for drones. Bees already "think" not about reproduction, but about how to spend the winter. In August, the bee colony begins to prepare for the winter, and then the bees ruthlessly drive the males out of their colony, and the poor fellows die of starvation.

One day in August, while observing the bees living in my glass hive, I noticed a bee that was trying to pull a healthy fat drone out of its housing. The drone strenuously rested with all six of his legs, and it was quite obvious that he was not being pulled out of his will. Soon, another bee quickly crawled to the aid of the bee that was engaged in the drone. Together they grabbed the drone by the front legs and began to pull the street towards the exit of the hive. After a few minutes, nevertheless, the bees managed to pull the abutting drone onto the flight board. Here, both bees probably relaxed and let him go a little. The drone suddenly broke free and ran to the taphole to climb back into the warm hive. But on the way I came across a bee guarding one of the entrances. She was probably "ordered" not to allow drones back into her family. Therefore, the guard bee blocked his way. While he was thinking what to do, the two bees who had earlier pulled him onto the boarding board and from which he tried to escape ran up to him. They stood on the sides of the drone and gripped it tightly on both sides. And the guard bee climbed onto the back of the drone and began to bite off its wings. When she managed to bite off the wing, the first two bees dragged the unfortunate fat man to the edge of the arrival board and threw him down from the second floor (my hives are on the second floor in a closed pavilion). Since the drone was left without a wing, it flew like a stone down to the ground. In this way, within two weeks, the bees were freed from the males. They stood on the sides of the drone and gripped it tightly on both sides. And the guard bee climbed onto the back of the drone and began to bite off its wings. When she managed to bite off the wing, the first two bees dragged the unfortunate fat man to the edge of the arrival board and threw him down from the second floor (my hives are on the second floor in a closed pavilion). Since the drone was left without a wing, it flew like a stone down to the ground. In this way, within two weeks, the bees were freed from the males. They stood on the sides of the drone and gripped it tightly on both sides. And the guard bee climbed onto the back of the drone and began to bite off its wings. When she managed to bite off the wing, the first two bees dragged the unfortunate fat man to the edge of the arrival board and threw him down from the second floor (my hives are on the second floor in a closed pavilion). Since the drone was left without a wing, it flew like a stone down to the ground. In this way, within two weeks, the bees were freed from the males. In this way, within two weeks, the bees were freed from the males. In this way, within two weeks, the bees were freed from the males. Beekeepers even have such a sign: if the bees start driving the drones out of the hive early, the winter will be early and frosty.