Why male honeybees try to blind their queens

Christian Cotroneo

A queen typically mates with about a dozen drones in mid-air, but that number sometimes reaches 40. (Photo: JSseng/Shutterstock)

You don’t casually date a queen.

Most male honeybees only get one shot at it. And she doesn’t have time for dinner.

So what does a humble drone do to make sure she always remembers him? Wear his best pin-striped suit? A bouquet of pollen-rich daisies?

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, suggest he brings something a little darker to the party: a toxin that makes her go blind…