IT is fair to say that drones are probably the least understood among the three honey bee castes. They have a bad name generally, use up tons of honey that they don't make, they don't lay eggs, they can't defend the colony as they have no sting, theydon't look after brood in any way, and for many new beekeepers they are often mistaken for queens! Cull them say some beekeepers; use them to trap varroa say others. Really? But of course, like the other two castes, they are indispensable to colony welfare during the active season. Drones are designed to mate, and that is what they do, and do well. They are equipped with all the requirements necessary to fly fast and seek out virgin queens on a vast three dimensional playing field. This becomes evidentfrom the fact that a queen bee has around 3-4000 eye facets in her compound eye; a worker bee has up to 6900, but a drone has up to 8600. A queen bee has some 1600 antennal plate organs (sensory organs); the worker has around 3000, whereas the drone hasan amazing 30,000!
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