I still say you are wrong about the drones. Only one of them contributes
anything to the hive. The others all just free load off of the workers until they kill them.
Oh, and which one is that? Are you assuming that only one of the drones mates with the queen bee?
That is what we were taught (and shown on film) in school.
Also, research has shown that when when bees -- both workers and drones -- detect that the hive is getting too cold or too warm, they work together to regulate the temperature of the hive by shivering or moving air with their wings, respectively.
We were taught that the drones do very little, so that is new.
The workers don't kill the drones, nor does the queen. They die as a result of mating, or of natural causes.
That is not what we were taught (and shown on film) in school. It is also
not what we were shown during a nature class where bees were kept in a bee
box that was see through on one end. We got to watch the workers drag the still live and kicking drones to one corner of the box where they were
being killed.
Some of them could die of natural causes, I am sure, but the ones we
watched that day died of the "natural cause" of injuries inflicted by the
other bees, which apparently is something that naturally happens.
I remember it well because I was not a fan of bees at that age.
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