Are Drones Injured during Storage in Own and Stranger Queenright Colonies (Apis mellifera carnica)?

The aim of this study was to check whether honey bee drones are also injured. We also compared the degree of injury to drones in own and stranger colonies. Drones were stored in mailing cages in their own colonies and stranger colonies. The number of injuries and the death rate were checked twice, after 3 and 7 days of storage. In total, over 4,608 drones were examined. Nine different types of injuries were observed for the drones, with leg injuries being the most common – lack of segments of tarsus (ca. 70-75% of all injuries). Other types of injuries included black arolia, missing arolia, wing and antenna injuries. The research showed that drones stored in bee colonies suffer injuries just like queens and worker bees do, though to a significantly lesser extent.This study also showed that storage of drones in mailing cages resulted in very high mortality of 62 to 75%.