Talk:Drone (bee)

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[edit] Is that true, are the drinking bees on the picture drones?

I think this are typical workers. First argument: The eyes are to small. Second: Drones are not collecting food (and water). They will be always feeded from their sisters. --MikePhobos 18:02, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Diploid males

According to this article:

"When a drone mates with its sister, the resultant queen will have a spotty brood pattern (numerous empty cells on a brood frame); again it is not clearly understood whether this is from higher mortality of the larvae, or by removal of these larvae by nurse bees."

According to Dr. Marion Ellis, Entymoligist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln:

"When unfertilized eggs are laid (hemizygotes) normal males are produced. When queens mate with closely related drones, some of the fertilized eggs will receive the same allele from both parents (homozygotes). This union results in some of the fertilized eggs having two copies of the same gene. If hand fed by a scientist, they can be reared to adult drones. These larvae are cannibalized by the workers as soon as they hatch."

http://entomology.unl.edu/beekpg/tidings/btid1997/btidsp97.htm#Item2

[edit] Chosing to fertilize an egg

According to this article: "It is not clearly understood what prompts a honey bee queen to lay an unfertilized egg versus a fertilized egg."

According to Pongthep Akratanakul:

"The fertilized eggs are deposited in small worker cells, while the unfertilized eggs are laid in the larger drone cells: the queen can determine cell size and cleanliness by passing her head into the cell and using her front legs to measure its internal width."

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0083E/X0083E03.htm

According to Brian P. Dennis: "The mated queen can lay an egg, which becomes a drone, or add sperm to the egg to produce a worker - if the fertilised egg is reared in a queen cell and fed copiously, a queen is produced. The queen determines the type of cell by measuring with her front legs - worker cells are smaller than drone cells."

http://www.bbka.org.uk/articles/life_cycle_apis_mellifera.php

Michael Bush (talk) 19:41, 31 January 2008 (UTC)