By flying to congregation areas further away from her colony, she further increases the probability of outbreeding. This broad mixing of drones is how a virgin queen can ensure she will receive the genetic diversity needed for her colony. In a congregation area, drones accumulate from as many as 200 colonies, with estimates of up to 25,000 individual drones. 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. At the same time, many congregation areas do not show such characteristics, such as those located above water or the forest canopy. This suggests that there are some environmental cues that define a congregation area, although the actual cues are unknown. Since drones are expelled from a colony during the winter, and new drones are raised each spring, inexperienced drones must find these congregation areas anew. The boundaries of a congregation area are distinct- queens flying a few meters outside the boundaries are mostly ignored by the drones.Ĭongregation areas are typically used year after year. They are typically located above open ground, away from trees or hills, where flight is somewhat protected from the wind (calm winds may be helpful during mating flight). A congregation area is typically 10-40 meters above ground, and can have a diameter of 30-200 meters. Mating between the drones and a virgin queen takes place away from the colony, in mid-air mating sites called “congregation areas.” These, are specific locations where drones wait for the arrival of virgin queens to mate with. Honey Bees Mating and Drone Congregation Areas Alongside “dran”, Old English also used the word ‘dore’ for male bees, but its meaning was broader, as is seen in ”dumbledore,” meaning bumble bee. In the 16th century it was given the figurative sense of “idler” or “lazy worker,” as male bees make no honey. The word ‘drone’ comes from the Old English “dran or dræn” meaning ‘male honeybee’. The following video, starring Isabella Rossellini as a drone bee, is a terrific, fun, and simple summary of the role of the drone bee in the hive: In some species the drone bee will also buzz around intruders in an attempt to disorient them if the nest is disturbed. The drone bee shares in this task with worker bees. All types of bees, when they sense the hive’s temperature deviating from acceptable limits, either generate heat by shivering, or exhaust heat by moving air with their wings. A colony begins to create drones during the early spring, and drone population reaches its peak in late spring and early summer.Īlthough the drone bee exists only to fertilize the queen, it does contribute to the hive in one other way. Otherwise, the typical life expectancy of a drone is about 90 days.ĭrone bees are produced when the queen bee does not fertilize an egg, or by a worker bee who lays non-fertilizing eggs. This is so they can better see the queen during mating, which happens in flight in “drone congregation areas.” A drone bee dies after successfully mating with the queen bee. The drone bee is also distinct from the other types of bees in that it has a fatter body than worker bees and enormous eyes that are twice the size of worker bees and queen bees. It also does not sting (because a honey bee stinger is a modified egg-laying organ). It does not pollinate flowers, produce honey, nurse, or build hives. They perform one function and one functional only: the drone bee exists to fertilize the queen. Of the three basic types of bees (queen bee, worker bee, drone bee), only drones are male and drones are only male. Drones are produced when the queen lays an unfertilized egg in a comb cell.Drones are male honey bees. Drones have large eyes to aid in mating while in flight. Mating takes place in flight in drone congregation areas. The males are larger, do not have a stinger and their only function is to mate with queen bees. They may live up to a few months during the winter time. The worker bees are the smallest in size and have a life span of about 4 to 6 weeks in the spring and summer. The worker bees guard the nest, clean the nest, raise the young bees (brood/larvae), tend to the queen and gather water and food (nectar and pollen from plants). The females are responsible for building the wax honeycomb that is the nest. The majority of the colony consists of females. An average size colony or nest may contain 30,000 to 35,000 bees with some nests getting as large as 80,000 bees. Honey bees live in a colony consisting of one queen bee, drone bees (males) and worker bees (females).
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