How did drones develop?

Drones are one of the three types of bees (queen bees, worker bees, drones), and there are usually hundreds to thousands of drones in the colony, although drones do not breed offspring like queen bees, It is not like the worker bees that can take on the work of the bee colony, but the development of the bee colony is inseparable from the drone. Let’s take a look at how the drone develops!

1, How did the drone develop?

Drones are developed from unfertilized eggs (egg cells). There are three main sources of unfertilized eggs. The most important source is from the queen bee after mating. Such unfertilized eggs generally mature in the drone hive. The second is produced by the virgin queen (virgin queen bee). Although the queen can lay eggs without copulation, it can only lay unfertilized eggs and develop into drones. The third is produced by worker ovaries with ovarian development. It was too long after the bee colony lost its king.

2, How long does the drone mature?

The unfertilized eggs laid by the queen king hatch into larvae after 3 days, and royal jelly can be eaten in the first 3 days of the larval stage, and then they will eat common pollen or nectar. It takes about 7 days to pupate and the beeswax is secreted by the worker bees. After being capped, it turns into a bee after 13 days. Therefore, it takes about 23 days for the drone to never fertilize the eggs to become an adult. It is worth noting that the development cycle of drones varies from species to species. For example, it takes approximately 24 days for an Italian bee to go from egg to adult.

3, What are the roles of drones?

Drones do not lay eggs and breed offspring like the queen bee, nor do they perform colony labor like the worker bees. Is it true that drones are useless in the colony? Of course not. In fact, drones also have an irreplaceable role in the colony. If the queen did not mate with the drone, she would not be able to lay fertilized eggs to breed new queen bees and worker bees, which would eventually lead to the destruction of the entire colony. Therefore, the only role of the drone in the swarm is to mate with the queen and die.