What term is used for a male honey bee?

The term used for a male honey bee is “drone.” Honey bees have three castes: female workers, female queens, and male drones. A drone’s primary biological role is to mate with a virgin queen during a nuptial flight.

Drones are built for that airborne task. They have notably large eyes, which help them locate queens, and a heavier body than workers. Unlike workers and queens, drones do not have a functional stinger, gather nectar, or collect pollen. They depend on worker bees for food inside the hive.

A common mix-up is treating “drone” as a general name for any male bee. In beekeeping, the word specifically refers to male honey bees, especially those of the genus Apis. Drones are usually produced from unfertilized eggs, meaning they typically have one set of chromosomes. After the mating season, colonies often remove or exclude drones as winter food becomes scarce.