Why Honeybee Queens Die After Mating: A Trick of Nature
As one of the small insects in nature, the honeybee is already familiar to many of our friends. The world of honeybees is always full of magic, leaving us with many unsolved mysteries since ancient times.
I believe many friends have heard that when honeybees mate, the male bees that mate with the queen bees will soon die. In general, as long as the male bee successfully mates with the queen bee, this male bee will not live for more than 2 hours. This is something that many friends know, but to really understand why male bees die within 2 hours after mating with queen bees, it may be difficult for many people. Soexactly what causes the male bee to die within 2 hours after mating with the queen bee? In fact, the queen bee used a trick here, which seems cruel but plays an immeasurable role in the development of the bee colony. This is also the reason why honeybees can continue to exist for 1.3 million years, and only a small number of genes change. The specific reasons are as follows:
1. The Queen Bee's Unique Mating Method
2. The Process of the Queen Bee's Mating
3. Why Male Bees That Successfully Mate with the Queen Bee Die Quickly
4. The Significance of the Queen Bee Allowing the Male Bee to Die
The Queen Bee's Unique Mating Method
The Queen Bee's Mating Process. In beekeeping, we call it 'Queen Bee Mating'. When we talk about 'Queen Bee Mating', we usually use the term 'special' to describe it. What is special about it? The main point is that the queen bee's mating is not like other animals. In general, when animals mate, such as pigs, dogs, and cattle, the female animals usually mate on the ground. As long as the male and female animals are together or in the period when the female animal is in heat, mating can be completed. However, the queen bee is special. The queen bee's mating cannot be completed on the ground.
The queen bee's mating mainly relies on the queen bee's sex hormones to control. Although there are male bees and queen bees in a bee colony, the queen bee will not release sex hormones on the ground. Instead, the queen bee releases sex hormones during flight. The entire mating process of the queen bee is completed in the air.This is the specialness of honeybee mating.
The Queen Bee's Mating Process
For the queen bee's mating process, we can roughly divide it into two processes: the 'honeymoon flight' process and the 'mating process'. The queen bee's aerial mating process, to a certain extent, avoids close breeding within the colony and selects high-quality male bees. Let's take a look in detail.
① 'Honeymoon Flight' Process: The time it takes for the queen bee to grow from an embryo to emerge from the cell is 16 days. After the queen bee emerges from the cell, it has not yet gained much prestige in the colony. It can be said that the queen bee is at its weakest time in the colony, and rarely receives support from worker bees. Only a few worker bees will feed the queen bee, and even no worker bees will feed the queen bee. At this time, the queen bee mainly relies on herself to find honey for food to maintain her life. After completing the demolition of the royal cell, the queen bee's weight decreases, and she can adapt to flying.
Newly emerged queen bees start their 'honeymoon flight' after about 3 days. Some queen bees have a long 'honeymoon flight', while others have a short 'honeymoon flight'. The queen bee's mating also takes place during the 'honeymoon flight'. Beekeepers believe that the reasons for the inconsistency in the queen bee's 'honeymoon flight' time are mainly due to the queen bee's sexual maturity. Only when the queen bee is fully mature will she secrete a large amount of sex hormones, attract the pursuit of male bees, so the queen bee's 'honeymoon flight' time is not consistent. However, beekeepers have found that queen bees with shorter 'honeymoon flight' and mating times are of better quality. The queen bee's mating time is most frequent within 5 to 9 days after emergence.
② 'Mating Process': Once the queen bee is fully sexually mature, we can see that the queen bee's tail will curl and uncurl, indicating that the queen bee has already mated. When the queen bee is mating, the queen bee flies out of the hive entrance and releases sex hormones in the air. The sex hormones attract nearby male bees. In general, male bees do not work in the colony, they just eat and fly in the air and wait for the queen bee to appear, then chase after the queen bee to mate. Because the queen bee is larger and has better nutrition than male bees, the queen bee's flight speed is faster, so only very good male bees can catch up with the queen bee to mate. This process relies on sex hormones to attract male bees, so male bees that die after mating with the queen bee may not be from the same bee colony as the queen bee, but from all male bees along the route flown by the queen bee. This avoids the negative effects of mating with inferior male bees and close relatives.
The mating process is that the queen bee flies in front and the male bees chase after her, forming a comet-like appearance. The male bees that catch up with the queen bee in front will mate with the queen bee, and then the male bee's genitalia are broken off at the queen bee's tail, to prevent sperm from flowing out. Another male bee will then mate with the queen bee, using the same method to continue mating, until the same method is used repeatedly.
Generally, the queen bee's mating flight distance is related to the number of male bees and the geographic location. In mountainous areas, the queen bee's flight distance is close, while in the plains, it is farther. The more male bees there are, the shorter the flight distance; if there are not enough male bees, the flight distance will be farther. It is also related to the number of times the queen bee mates. If there are enough male bees, the queen bee often mates with the queen bee once and with several or dozens of male bees before completing the mating, but if there are not enough male bees, the queen bee may mate multiple times with the queen bee in one day or several days, until the queen bee starts to lay eggs, at this time the queen bee will not mate again, until she dies.
Why male bees that successfully mate with the queen bee die quickly?
In general, mating and death of animals during mating are rare, which is the specialness of honeybee mating. We all know that when animals are sexually mature, and during mating, animals produce eggs. However, honeybees are different. The queen bee does not produce eggs when she is sexually mature. Strictly speaking, the queen bee's sexual maturity only means that the queen bee has the ability to store sperm, and this process can be completed at any time. For example, mammals produce eggs every month, but it is not known whether female animals will produce one egg if they do not mate. Beekeepers don't know this either, but people do. In order for animals to continue producing eggs, it is necessary to continue mating. Honeybees avoid continuous mating by storing sperm, which avoids the problem of a small number of eggs produced, and to a certain extent, promotes the prosperity of the species.
② Avoidance of Unforeseen Events: As mentioned above, the queen bee's mating can bring danger. Although the queen bee is a small insect, it is still an insect, and insects have corresponding enemies. When the queen bee mates, it is easy to encounter birds chasing, and in beekeeping, beekeepers often find that not all queen bee mating is successful. For example, birds may chase the queen bee. In beekeeping, beekeepers often find that not every queen bee mating is 100% successful, and there may be a risk of encountering danger during the mating process.
The queen bee's mating can bring danger. For example, in beekeeping, beekeepers often find that not every queen bee mating is 100% successful. For example, in the pursuit of male bees, it is easy to trigger birds chasing. In beekeeping, beekeepers often find that not every queen bee mating is 100% successful. For example, birds may chase the queen bee. In beekeeping, beekeepers often find that not every queen bee mating is 100% successful.
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