Melville Kayton wrote:

>  They listened intently and only expressed their disappointment
> on behalf of the drone only mating once in his lifetime if he is lucky and
> then being stung to death afterwards.

When is a drone stung to death? It is my understanding that if a drone is
*lucky* enough to mate, he dies because his 'lil appendage is torn off his body
in the process (much like the reason a worker that has left her sting in someone
dies).  It is also my understanding that when drones are no longer required by
the colony (autumn around here), they are evicted, but not killed.  They
eventually die of starvation or exposure, but not from having been stung.

Kathy