Bee abortion

When food sources run low, such as during a summer nectar dearth, the workers in a honey bee hive will often expel both drones and drone pupae. Since drones eat plenty of food but don’t collect any, it is a way for the colony to conserve stores for the winter. Later on, in the fall, nearly all the drones will be removed from the hive. In warmer climates a few may be allowed to remain throughout the winter, but in cold latitudes every last drone will be discarded.

A small percentage of worker bees in every colony are known as undertaker bees. Their job is to remove the corpses from the hive. They usually fly the bodies several meters away from the hive before dropping them, and sometimes two bees can be seen carrying one body. If the bodies are dropped close to the hive, predators may be seen working over the meat. Sometimes those predators, like the bald-faced hornet shown below, get bold enough to eat corpses right on the landing board.

The landing board shown below held a hornet eating a drone pupa. Because I think like a beekeeper and not a photographer, I killed it before I remembered to take a picture. Sorry. These photos were taken in the morning when the landing board was damp with dew and bodies had accumulated overnight. About an hour later, the board was cleared of all carnage.

Undertaker bee working among dead drone pupae

Bald-faced hornet (Vespula maculata) in a mason jar