Jun 11, 2010

To Be a Bee

A queen bee is selectively bred in a special "queen cell" in the hive and fed royal jelly by worker bees to induce her to become sexually mature. A virgin queen that survives to adulthood without being killed by her rivals will take a mating flight with a dozen or so male drones. During mating, their genitals explode and snap off inside the queen.

The snapped-off penis acts as a genital plug to prevent other drones from fertilizing the queen. Ouch!