Yikes! Even worse than I remembered. Mother Nature can be a real b*tch.
Charlie
On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 10:44 AM Dean Hansen via olympus <
olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Years back I ran over 600 colonies of honey bees. Jim N. posted "The ratio
> of the hive population is about 100 females to every male." To which Jan
> Steinman responded, "Lucky guys!"
> Ahh, not so fast, Jan. True, the drones do get by with doing no
> useful work in a beehive--no nectar gathering, no taking care of the larval
> bees, no protecting the hive (drones don't have a stinger). And, yes,
> several lucky ones do get to mate with a virgin queen on her one and only
> mating flight. Trouble is, after mating, the male's genitalia are pulled
> away by the mated queen, and the hapless drone drops to the ground to bleed
> to death. It's his first, and last, sexual experience. "Lucky guys!",
> ahh, I don't think so.
> Drones that are still alive in October are quite unceremoniously
> driven out of the hive to die of starvation. No, not lucky guys at all.
> End of entomology lesson.
> Beelievable Dean
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