The Drone Bee

Among the thousands of bees in a colony, you will find a few hundred honey bee drones—or males. Present during the warm months and usually absent over Winter, these boys do not perform the daily tasks needed to support the hive. However, they have one very important role: mating with virgin queens and helping ensure the future of the honey bee population. Let’s see why they are actually special.

Of all the bees in a beehive, drones are perhaps the most misunderstood. We beekeepers often think of these guys as a “drag on colony resources”—but there is more to their story. I actually enjoy seeing drones in my colony -especially early in the season – it’s a sign that Spring is on its way.

Recognizing the Boys in the Hive

It is easy to distinguish a drone from a worker bee once you know what to look for. They are noticeably larger and thicker than workers, with a chunky body that is often described as barrel-shaped.

But the most noticeable feature is the eyes. All honey bees have 5 eyes. But, a drone has very large compound eyes that cover much of his head and meet at the top.

This gives him the visual ability needed to spot and pursue a queen during mating flights.

Male vs Worker or Queen

Because drones are larger than workers, beginning beekeepers (with less experience) sometimes mistake one for the queen. However, the body shape is quite different.

A queen has a long, tapered abdomen that extends well beyond the tips of her wings. A drone is broader and more rounded, with that characteristic set of very large eyes.

Once you become familiar with the differences, these big boys are usually easy to pick out among the thousands of workers on a frame.

How Drone Honey Bees Develop

The life of a drone begins when the queen lays an unfertilized egg in a cell. While worker bees and queens develop from fertilized eggs, males do not.

This is one of the most fascinating aspects of honey bee reproduction.

The Unusual Genetics of Male Bees

Drone bees develop from unfertilized eggs through a process called parthenogenesis. This means that a male receives genetic material only from his mother—the queen.

Female honey bees have 32 chromosomes, receiving 16 from the queen and 16 from a drone. But males are haploid and have only 16 chromosomes—all inherited from their mother.

This means that a drone has a mother but no father. However, because his mother came from a fertilized egg, he can have a grandfather!

Like other colony members, drones pass through the four stages of the honey bee life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

They take about 24 days to develop from egg to adult, compared with about 21 days for a worker bee.

Drone Congregation Areas

Drones gather in specific locations known as drone congregation areas. Hundreds or even thousands of males from different colonies may gather in these areas waiting for a virgin queen to arrive.

How they know where to go is still not completely understood. Yet, year after year, drones gather in the same general locations—even though the males from the previous season are long gone.

When a virgin queen enters the area, many males may pursue her. Only a few will be successful.

Mating With a Queen

Honey bee mating takes place in the air, away from the hive. A queen usually mates with multiple drones during one or more mating flights.

This provides the genetic diversity that is so important to a healthy honey bee population.

For the successful male, however, mating comes at a high price. His reproductive organs are damaged during the process and he dies shortly afterward.

The queen stores sperm from her mating flights and uses it later to produce fertilized eggs. The process of honey bee reproduction is fascinating—and much more complex than it may first appear.

A Short and Seasonal Life

The honey bee lifespan varies according to the bee’s role in the colony, and drones are no exception.

A male that successfully mates with a queen dies shortly afterward. Those that are unsuccessful may live for a month or two during the warm season.

But, woe unto the drone honey bee who fails to fulfill his mission of mating with a queen.

As Summer draws to a close, the colony begins preparing for Winter. Food becomes more valuable and there is little need for males when no virgin queens are available for mating.

Worker bees begin refusing to feed the drones and may physically remove them from the hive. Those that resist can be dragged to the entrance and pushed outside.

This may seem harsh, but a honey bee colony must conserve its food stores to survive the cold months.

With no reproductive role to fulfill during Winter, feeding hundreds of hungry males would be a drain on valuable resources.

For this reason, most healthy colonies have few or no drones during Winter. When Spring arrives and conditions improve, the colony begins producing them again.

When a Large Drone Population Is Normal

During Spring and Summer, a strong colony may have several hundred to thousands of male bees. Their numbers vary depending on the season, available food and the strength of the colony.

Seeing a lot of these big boys hanging around should not automatically cause concern. When resources are plentiful and mating season is underway, raising males is a normal part of colony reproduction.

When the Brood Pattern Signals Trouble

Normal drone brood is generally found in patches, often along the edges of the brood nest. But, if you find a colony with only drone brood, you have a problem.

A failing queen may produce too many unfertilized eggs. Or, if the colony has been without a queen for some time, laying workers may develop.

Because worker bees cannot mate, they can produce only unfertilized eggs that become males.

If you see an unusual amount of drone brood, look at the entire brood pattern before deciding what is wrong.

The Connection With Varroa Mites

Unfortunately, Varroa mites like drone brood too. Because males have a longer capped brood period than workers, mites have more time to reproduce inside these cells.

This preference is one reason beekeepers often find more mites in drone brood.

However, opening a few cells is not a reliable way to determine the mite level in your colony. Regular monitoring and appropriate Varroa mite treatments are still necessary.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

In a balanced well-fed colony with a good queen, a population of honey bee drones is a sign of good health. Beekeepers should not make strong efforts to control the drone population. It is quite possible that they serve purposes we can not yet understand.