What Happens to Diploid Drone Larvae in a Honeybee Colony

Abstract

Queens producing brood of only 50% survival were bred by individual sibling mating. The non-surviving brood in these colonies consists of eggs laid in worker cells which hatch to give diploid drone larvae, which quickly disappear. Hive entrance observations failed to provide evidence that the bees carried the diploid drone larvae out of the hive, and no young larvae were found on sheets of plastic placed under the combs to catch debris. Investigations in special observation hives showed that all the disappearing larvae were eaten alive by the workers.