Male bees

Kamitani sensei took photos again, and today he photographed some drones (male bees) for the first time. I had noticed this year’s first drones earlier this morning when I checked on the hive activity. Drones do not work in the hive. The worker bees feed them, and they fly to drone congregation areas above the tops of tall trees and wait for virgin queens to fly through. When they do, the drones fly up to catch the queen and mate with her.

Drones have no stinger (the sting of a bee is a modified ovipositor, an egg-laying organ) so they need not be feared. They are larger and in the case of Japanese honey bees, darker than the females. They are almost black and don’t have the stripes on their abdomen. Another feature they have is “huge eyes” that almost touch each other. The workers’ eyes are much smaller. I’m not sure why the drones’ eyes are so much bigger, but maybe it has to do with being able to see the queen and follow her when she flies through the drone congregation area.

Another thing I noticed about drones is that they can be very noisy and “scary” when they fly, but it’s all bluff. They can’t hurt a flea (or a fly, or a person–unless you got one in your eye). The fact that there are drones now could mean that pretty soon there will be a swarm come out from the hive. Drones have pheromones too and give the rest of the hive a sense of well-being when they are present. Because there are new drones, the new virgin queen will then be able to mate.