by Drone – this is a male bee, thanks to which the fertilization of eggs laid by the queen occurs.
They are hatched from unfertilized eggs. Drone eggs remain unfertilized because the queen bee does not release sperm from the spermatheca as these eggs pass through the vagina; this is because the drone cells built by the worker bees are larger.
When an egg is laid in a wider drone cell, the sensitive hairs on the abdomen of the queen do not experience compression and no impulse is sent to the muscles of the seminal pump.
Description
What it looks like, photo:
- The drone is distinguished by its significant size and development of sensory organs compared to worker bees;
- their eyes are large, touching each other at the top;
- antennae are relatively long;
- proboscis short;
- chest broad with long wings;
- they do not have an apparatus for collecting flower pollen (see Tibia);
- there is also no sting, and in its place is located the copulatory apparatus;
- The abdomen is oval in shape and rounded towards the rear end.
How to distinguish from females?
It is very easy to distinguish a male from a female. It is larger in size than a worker bee, but male bees do not have a sting, however, they have huge eyes of a complex structure, thanks to which, as well as a highly developed sense of smell, the drone easily finds the queen bee.
Male insects are not able to feed themselves; they feed from other bees or directly from the honeycombs, and they can eat a lot at one time.
It is believed that male bees are of no use, but this is not true. Despite the fact that they eat in large quantities and do not bring pollen to the hive, without these insects there would be no queens.
Development
The queen begins to lay drone eggs after the worker bees have hatched (in the Central Belt of Russia in the first half of May); these eggs are laid in special larger cells (8 mm in diameter) – this is the so-called drone brood.
After 3 days, larvae (drone worms) emerge from the eggs, which the worker bees feed with milk, honey and flower pollen.
The larvae develop for 6 days, after which the worker bees close the cells with convex (humped) lids; the larvae turn into pupae, from which drones emerge after 15 days. Thus, the entire development of the drone lasts 24 days.
Drones are hatched in those swarms in which the queen is more or less old, but those bees in which the queen is young, having hatched in the same year (last year), usually do not hatch drones.
Sometimes drone eggs are laid by mistake in smaller cells intended for the development of worker bees. In such cases, these cells are also sealed with convex lids (humped worm), and not flat ones, as when worker bees develop in them; the drones emerging from such cells are significantly smaller in size.
What do they do and why are they needed?
The purpose of drones is to mate with the queen bee. During the mating flight, the drones rise with the queen quite high in the air, often flying far from the hive; 5-8 of them copulate with the queen; in this case, the copulatory organ of the drone breaks off and remains in the genital opening of the queen, and the drone itself instantly dies and falls to the ground together with the queen.
After this, the queen may return to the hive with a white “trail” – fragments of the drone’s genitals, so the beekeeper can visually determine that the queen has already “flown out”. For successful fertilization of barren queens, a certain density of drones per volume of air in the apiary is necessary.
When the queen leaves the nest, she is always surrounded by a whole group of drones flying after her.
Therefore, birds that feed on bees, such as bee-eaters, on the days when queens fly out, grab mostly drones, but never queens (provided that there are other hives nearby), because they cannot break through the tight formation of suitors. The queen flies very far from her native hive.
The drones accompanying her lag behind on the road. The queen mates with the young from other hives. Far from the apiary, she is almost not in danger of being eaten by a bee-eater – this bird hunts bees near the hives, where there is plenty of food. In addition, the queen is very soon surrounded by drones from “foreign” families.
If there are no other apiaries nearby, the queens fly much further than the drones. Not meeting drones from other apiaries, they return home without a “retinue”; while up to 60% of them are eaten by the birds during incubation of eggs and almost all are eaten by the chicks when they (the chicks) are fed by their parents.
At the end of the bribe, before the start of wintering, the bees drive all drones out of the nest and also kill the drone brood. An exception is leaving drones in a bee colony for the winter when the queen does not have time to fly in late autumn.
For example: a sudden frost hits and winter begins. For this, the bees leave a number of drones so that during the spring flight the queen can mate and continue the existence of the bee colony.
Drones do not survive on their own. Since a large number of drones is harmful to the hives in that they eat a lot of honey (three times more than worker bees), and worker bees also spend a lot of food and time feeding drone worms, beekeepers try to get rid of drones one way or another.
In order for them to hatch in smaller quantities, the combs with drone cells are removed and ready-made empty bee combs (“dry”) are substituted; in this way, the queen is forced to lay only fertilized eggs.
It is also believed that older queens lay more unfertilized eggs, which is one of the reasons why queens are regularly (every two years or more often) renewed.
The benefits of drones
It is not worth considering that a large number of drones in a bee family is a negative phenomenon. Despite the fact that males eat too much, they can be forgiven for losses only because the male bee is the keeper of the bee family, not allowing it to degenerate.
Also, male bees preserve the genes of the family, thereby contributing to the improvement of the family qualities, due to which full-fledged healthy offspring appears every year.
There are some beekeepers who believe that males should be left in the hive for the winter simply because they are a wonderful stimulant to other bees.
Bumblebees-drones
Parasites among insects are also found in other communities. Bumblebees also have a special category of individuals that are of no use to the bumblebee family. What are the names of the distinguished comrades? Otherwise, they are called cuckoo bumblebees. They surpass their fellows in the length of their sting and reinforced shell, but are not able to collect nectar.
The bumblebee’s behavioral tactics resemble the activities of the infamous bird. What makes the drone so special? First, the bumblebee penetrates into another family and carefully observes the reaction to the “foreign agent”.
If the uninvited guest is attacked, it instantly kills the attackers. Gradually, the stranger absorbs local aromas and becomes “one of our own”. The main goal of penetration is the destruction of the family’s hostess, the destruction of the hive. Although in rare cases, the cuckoo bumblebee mates with the queen in order to create new offspring.
FAQ
Why does the drone die after insemination?
Answer: The drone releases its organ responsible for the birth of bees, which was inside it until that moment, to mate. This is almost the same as a person’s internal organs coming out. Therefore, the drone dies without a chance of survival.
Is it possible to determine the breed of bees by the appearance of the drone?
Answer: Yes, you can! For example, Caucasian bees have black drones, and mongrel drones are gray. The “Italian” breed is red, and forest drones are dark red.
Conclusion
Loafers are not respected either by people or animals. A lazy person resembles a lazy insect. But nature is so arranged that the processes there are ordered and structured. Therefore, even a seemingly useless individual has an important role for the further prosperity of the insect kingdom.
