Veritable athletes built for flight, the male bees do not have a stinger and their tongue is very short. Their eyes have 8,000 facets while those of the worker bees have only 5,000. Its olfactory system with antennas longer by one segment is more efficient than that of the females. It has a longer range for the fertilization flight and a reproductive apparatus.
Its abdomen is fatter and more rounded than that of the worker bee. It measures approximately 220mg as opposed to 100mg for a foraging bee. The males carry out several fertilization flights, most often 2 or 3, but they are capable of performing up to 5 in one afternoon. Before taking flight, the males clean their antennas and their eyes, most of the time at the entrance to the, but they also make those flights during the swarming, before a new hive has been found. The drones carry out two distinct fights: one for orientation and one for the fertilization. The orientation flights are short, lasting 1 to 6 minutes (Howell and Usinger, 1933). They help to locate the hive in its environment and also serve as a cleansing flight because the males defecate during it (Howell and Usinger, 1933). The fertilization flights are carried out by the mature males and last longer: 32.56 ± 22.49 minutes (Witherell, 1971).
Véritables athlètes taillés pour le vol, le male d’abeille n'a pas de dard et leur langue est très courte. Ses yeux comportent 8 000 facettes alors que ceux des ouvrières n'en ont que 5 000. Son système olfactif avec des antennes plus longues d’un segment est plus performant que celui des femelles. Il a un rayon d'action plus étendu pour le vol de fécondation et d'un appareil reproducteur.
Son abdomen plus gros et arrondi que celui de l’ouvrière. Il est environ 220mg contre 100mg pour une butineuse. Les mâles effectuent plusieurs vols de fécondation, le plus souvent 2 ou 3, mais ils sont capables d’en effectuer jusqu’à 5 en une après-midi. Avant de prendre leur envol, les mâles nettoi