11 Interesting And Horrific Animal Mating Rituals

Honeybee Orgy

Male honeybees take the phrase "living to serve" to the fullest extent. The main purpose of male bees is to have intercourse with the queen bee. Even though there are other female worker bees in a hive, they are all sterile. When the time comes to mate, the queen flies out to a place where the drones begin to swarm around her. In mid-air, the drones get a chance to have a special moment with the queen which abruptly ends with them falling to the ground and dying. Even though thousands of drones are part of the honeybee orgy, only about fourteen or so will share their sperm with the queen. Interestingly, the sperm is then stored and used when her eggs need fertilizing. The collected sperm is enough to last for the rest of the queen’s life, and she does not need to participate in sex ever again. Female bees are produced when the eggs are fertilized and drones are produced when the eggs are unfertilized.