Drone congregation area

Definition

Drones fly on warm afternoons to particular aerial locations, usually ten to forty metres up, where thousands from many colonies gather. Queens fly through and mate on the wing. The areas persist across years and their position has never been fully explained, and because drones and queens come from different colonies the arrangement enforces outbreeding.

Guide records that discuss this

• Stingless bees vs honey beesBoth are eusocial, both store honey, both have queens and workers — and they have been evolving apart for something like eighty million years. Almost everything else differs.