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Because the male bee technically has only a mother, and no father, its genealogical tree is unusual. The first generation has one member (the male). One generation back also has one member (the mother). Two generations back are two members (the mother and father of the mother). Three generations back are three members. Four back are five members.
Workers are nevertheless considered female for anatomical and genetic reasons. Genetically, a worker bee does not differ from a queen bee and can even become a laying worker bee, but in most species will produce only male (drone) offspring. Whether a larva becomes a worker or a queen depends on the kind of food it is given after the first three ...
The queen bee's abdomen is longer than the worker bees surrounding her and also longer than a male bee's. Even so, in a hive of 60,000 to 80,000 honey bees, it is often difficult for beekeepers to find the queen with any speed; for this reason, many queens in non-feral colonies are marked with a light daub of paint on their thorax. [13]
The male bees' genetic makeup is therefore entirely derived from the mother, while the genetic makeup of the female worker bees is half derived from the mother, and half from the father. [12] Thus, if a queen bee mates with only one drone, any two of her daughters will share, on average, 3 ⁄ 4 of their genes.
Female X. virginica. The bee is similar in size to bumblebees, but has a glossy, mostly black body with a slight metallic purple tint. [4] X. virginica males and females have generally the same mass, but can be differentiated visually by the male's longer body and the female's wider head. The males also have a white spot on their face.
Bees are also mimicked by plants such as the bee orchid which imitates both the appearance and the scent of a female bee; male bees attempt to mate (pseudocopulation) with the furry lip of the flower, thus pollinating it. [82]
The pheromone advertises the presence of the male to females. [13] Male bees often are seen hovering near nests and will approach nearby animals. However, males are harmless, since they do not have a stinger. [14] Female carpenter bees are capable of stinging, but they are docile and rarely sting unless caught in the hand or otherwise directly ...
Female bees have two sets of chromosomes —one set from the queen and another from one of the male bees or drones. Drones have only one set of chromosomes ( haploid ), and are the result of unfertilized eggs, though inbreeding can result in diploid drones.