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Why do honeybee queens mate with multiple males?
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Hymenoptera
An endangered rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) browsing on a wild bergamot flower.
Honeybee queens mate with multiple males—a behavior known as polyandry—primarily to increase the genetic diversity within their colony.123
This increased genetic variation provides several evolutionary advantages that improve the overall fitness and survival of the colony. Specifically, colonies with higher genetic diversity exhibit traits such as:
- Increased population size3
- Enhanced foraging activity3
- Greater food supplies3
These collective benefits favor the successful production of new queens and the formation of new colonies, which are essential for the propagation of the species. During these mating flights, the queen stores the sperm in a specialized structure called the spermatheca, which provides enough genetic material to fertilize her eggs for the remainder of her life.312