Drone (bee)
[1] Much debate and controversy exists in scientific literature about the dynamics and apparent benefit of the combined forms of reproduction in honey bees and other social insects, known as the haplodiploid sex-determination system.
A laying worker bee exclusively produces totally unfertilized eggs, which develop into drones.
As an exception to this rule, laying worker bees in some subspecies of honey bees may also produce diploid (and therefore female) fertile offspring in a process called thelytoky, in which the second set of chromosomes comes not from sperm, but from one of the three polar bodies during anaphase II of meiosis.
The worker bees evict them as the drones would deplete the hive's resources too quickly if they were allowed to stay.
Mating occurs in flight, which accounts for drones needing better vision, which is provided by their large eyes.
Honey bee queen breeders may breed drones to be used for instrumental insemination[4] or open mating.
Although the drone is highly specialized to perform one function, mating and continuing the propagation of the hive, they may have other purposes.
Drones do not exhibit typical worker bee behaviors such as nectar and pollen gathering, nursing, or hive construction.
While drones are unable to sting, if picked up, they may swing their tails in an attempt to frighten the disturber.
The drone endophallus is optimized to disperse a large quantity of seminal fluid and spermatozoa with great speed and force.
These mating sites, called "congregation areas", are specific locations, where drones wait for the arrival of virgin queens.
At the same time, many congregation areas do not show such characteristics, such as those located above water or the forest canopy.
Some studies have suggested that magnetic orientation could play a role, since drones older than 6 days contain cells in the abdomen that are rich in magnetite.
Congregation areas can be located by attaching a virgin queen (in a cage) to a balloon floating above ground.
This broad mixing of drones is how a virgin queen can ensure she will receive the genetic diversity needed for her colony.
When the virgin queen arrives to the congregation area, the drones locate her by visual and olfactory cues.
At this point, it is a race to mate with the virgin queen, to be genetically represented in the newly founded colony.
If needed, a virgin queen can embark on multiple "nuptial flights", to be sure to receive enough semen from enough drones.
The Varroa mite prefers drone brood as it guarantees a longer development period, which is important for its own propagation success.
