More on this topic:


Tom Seeley states on his web site:

The curious promiscuity of queen bees, which mate with and utilize the sperm
of a dozen or more males, has long been a mystery. With my colleagues Paul
Sherman and Kern Reeve, I have suggested that this polyandry is advantageous
for it endows a queen with a great deal of genetic variability among her
workers, and this could prove vital in resisting one of the many
parasite-based diseases to which honey bee colonies are susceptible. *This
hypothesis remains to be tested.*

http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/department/faculty/seeley/seeley.html

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