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Drone behaviour outside the nest

After leaving the nest drones fly to some special places called drone congregation area. Drones fly back and forth in this area producing audible sound similar to a swarm of bees. When a queen comes to drone congregation area drones pursue her. The drones following the queen form a tight formation called "drone comet". Drones recognize queens using both chemical and visual cues Chemical mating attractants in the queen honey bee,
Science
, Volume 136, p.773-774, (1962)
[1]Observations of mating behaviour in the honeybee,
J. Apic. Res.
, Volume 2, p.3-13, (1963)
[2]Mating behavior of drone honey bees with queen models,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 19, p.299-304, (1971)
[3]. At large distance chemical cues are more important than visual cues. Drones respond to the queen mandibular pheromone from a distance of more than 400 m upwind Radar detection of drones responding to honeybee queen pheromone,
Journal of Chemical Ecology
, Volume 19, Number 9, p.1929-1938, (1993)
[4]. At smaller distance drones follow the queen even if it is in downwind direction and follow other dark objects at some distance from the pheromone scented dummy queen The perception of small objects by the drone honeybee,
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
, Volume 172, Number 2, p.183-188, (1993)
[5]. Unscented dummies are not chased as scented once; the pheromones can be important for discrimination between queens and drones Drones fixate the queen with the dorsal frontal part of their compound eyes,
J Comp Physiol
, Volume 136, p.263-266, (1980)
[6]. Impregnated with pheromones dummy of queen is attractive to drones Wie Drohnen auf Königinnen-Attrappen reagieren,
Schweiz. Bienenztg.
, Volume 94, p.558-562, (1971)
[7]An aerial trap for collecting drone honeybees in congregation areas,
J. Apic. Res.
, Volume 23, p.18-20, (1984)
[8]A mating tube for studying attractiveness of queen honeybees and mating behaviour of drones,
J. Apic. Res.
, Volume 23, p.21-24, (1984)
[9]. Drones approach the queen from below and usually against wind. The queen is probably better visible at the background of bright sky than on the background of relatively dark ground. Therefore drones chasing the queen remain below her and use the upper frontal part of their field of view to observe her against the bright sky. Drones perceive very well dark objects against the sky. They are able to see objects as small as 0.41 degrees The perception of small objects by the drone honeybee,
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
, Volume 172, Number 2, p.183-188, (1993)
[5]. The upper part of compound eyes is particularly well developed in drones. The angle between horizontal and the line joining the drone and queen is 22.6±7.4 degrees Drones fixate the queen with the dorsal frontal part of their compound eyes,
J Comp Physiol
, Volume 136, p.263-266, (1980)
[6]. Distance between the drone and the queen they chase is 3.4±1.1 cm Drones fixate the queen with the dorsal frontal part of their compound eyes,
J Comp Physiol
, Volume 136, p.263-266, (1980)
[6]. Drones are able to abruptly change flight direction Résumé des observations sur le vol nuptial des reines d`abeilles,
Proc Int Beekeep Congr Rome
, Volume 17, p.404-408, (1958)
[10]. Mean turning speed is 1890 degrees/s Straight forward to the queen: pursuing honeybee drones (Apis mellifera L.) adjust their body axis to the direction of the queen,
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
, Volume 179, Number 4, p.539-544, (1996)
[11] and maximum 2260 degree/s The perception of small objects by the drone honeybee,
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
, Volume 172, Number 2, p.183-188, (1993)
[5].