Honey Bees - Drones being kicked out while pollen is coming in

In the fall once the breeding season is over honey bee hives forcibly evict all of the drones (males bees). Drones are much larger than the other bees and serve no purpose other than to be ready to mate just in case a virgin queen in the area makes her once in a lifetime mating flight - other than that they hang out and eat. In the fall the hive is preparing for winter by storing away all of the pollen (the white yellow and orange bits that some of the bees can be seen bringing in) and honey that they can before the weather turns and food becomes unavailable.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• honey
• bees
• drones
• pollen

[CJanNH]

Thank you for posting this video David. I always wondered what happened to the drones when they weren't needed to fertilize the queen. Now I know :)

[RileyRichardz]

They just hang out, eat, and Mate untill their kicked out. Hmm, humans and drones are not to far appart.

[aceman4564564]

@StriderGTS yea they were actual drones do not worry robbing is very rare

[StriderGTS]

I could sit and watch my bees just like this all day =)

I noticed big bees coming (or going?) into my hive today and figured my bees were being robbed... but my bees didn't do anything about it at all. Were the bees possibly drones? Their abdomens were darker in color and the bees were probably almost twice the size of the workers. I hope they were just drones and not robbers!