Koeniger, et al, write in 2011:

... the function of mating signs was long debated. Much later,
video recordings demonstrated that drones (A. mellifera) remove the mating sign by
pulling it out with a special hairy field of the endophallus (Koeniger 1986).
However, the debate about the purpose (adaptive advantage) of the mating sign --
this "costly" drone product -- is still in progress ...

Comparative Reproductive Biology of Honeybees
Gudrun Koeniger, Nikolaus Koeniger, and Mananya Phiancharoen

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