Some reproductive characteristics of honeybee drones in relation to their ages

The number of spermatozoa, length of testis, length of mucus gland and weights of drones were estimated in caged and free honeybee drones in relation to their ages. For this purpose, three Carniolan colonies were used as sources of drones and two were used as nursery colonies. The drones were held either in cages or freely in the queenless part of the nursery colonies. Measurements were carried out on samples of drones taken at 3‐day intervals from 1–3, 4–6, 7–9, 10–12 and 13–15 days old. While the number of spermatozoa in drone testes decreased in both caged and free drones as the drone age increased, it increased gradually in the seminal vesicles. The results also showed that weight of drones and length of testes decreased, but the length of the mucus gland did not significantly differ with age. Further, the drones' weight, length of mucus gland and total number of spermatozoa tend to be slightly larger in the caged than in free drones. The total number of spermatozoa in all parts of the reproductive organs was lower in the older than younger drones; thus, the number of spermatozoa in the newly emerged drones does not help to predict the real number reaching the queen during mating.