Question

Explain the process of sex determination in honey bees.

Answer 1

Sex-determination in honeybee involves haplodiploidy. It is a type of sex determination in which the male is haploid while the female is diploid. Haplodiploidy occurs in some insects like bees, ants, and wasps. Male insects are haploid because they develop parthenogenetically from unfertilized eggs. Meiosis does not occur during the formation of sperms. Females grow from fertilized eggs and are hence diploid. Queen Bee picks up all the sperms from the drone during nuptial flight and stores the same in her seminal vesicle. It does not fertilise the eggs which are to develop into males or drones. Workers and future Queen Bee develop from fertilised eggs and are sexually female. The difference between them lies in the nourishment they receive (royal jelly for queen and bee bread for workers).