Question

The honeybee has 32 chromosomes in their somatic cells. They undergo meiosis but can

produce offspring drones without fertilization. How many chromosomes does the drone have?
What does this mean for the drone?

Answer 1

In honeybees, the drones (males) are entirely derived from the queen, their mother. The diploid queen has 32 chromosomes and the haploid drones have 16 chromosomes. ... Thus, if a queen bee mates with only one drone, any two of her daughters will share, on average, ​3⁄4 of their genes.