Drones - not the four propeller variety, the four wing male honey bee - is bigger than his worker sisters, has big eyes, strong wings and a big hairy backside.
He doesn't do any work in the hive; all work is done by the infertile female workers.
A colony multiplying in spring may have hundreds of drones when they are needed for breeding, but you won't find many in late autumn and none in winter when the hive is shut down for the cold weather. When not needed drones are not bred and those remaining are not fed and even driven out.
The only purpose in the life of a drone is to fertilise a virgin queen and the few who fulfill this destiny die instantly. It is a strange biological marvel that the drone has only half the number of chromosomes that workers and queens have. He has a grandfather but no father; he is just a flying sperm!
In the busy days of spring, drones take to their wings and fly out from the hive to join with males from other hives in what is called a drone congregation area where they cruise around waiting expectantly for a young queen to happen along.
When a virgin queen appears with her powerfully attractive pheromones (scent) the drones pounce and mate on the wing, five to 40 metres up in the air. This mating process explains why drones have big eyes and strong wings.
The queen is promiscuous and mates with many drones, recent research suggesting 30 or more. This multiple mating and resulting biodiversity is important for the health of the queen's progeny and consequently the strength of her colony.
Furthermore, virgin queens fly several kilometres from their own hives to be sure of mating with drones from other colonies and not with her brothers.
Even bees that evolved millions of years ago instinctively avoid in-breeding and though one would imagine that it might occur occasionally by chance multiple mating provides the necessary biodiversity.
Beekeepers who breed queens must ensure their products are well mated because the drone supplies half the genetic material of the thousands of bees in each colony. To do this they identify drone congregation areas and site their queen breeding activities accordingly.
To find a drone congregation area, they cage a virgin queen, attach her to a balloon and float it up in the air. Drones attracted by her pheromone fly in large numbers to the cage only to find their quarry protected by a huge impenetrable chastity belt.
Poor drones, they may not have to work but it's not much of a life even if the successful ones do have an exciting end.
