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Re: [OM] IMG: Honey Bee at Work

Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: Honey Bee at Work
From: Chris Barker <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2020 18:36:52 +0100
Thanks, Dean.  Remind me how lucky I am not to be a bee . . . ;-)

Chris

> On 8 Jun 2020, at 15:44, 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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