I am no stranger to mocking drones. however, in the Scientific Literature™, they really get the short end of the stick! they’re dismissed as flying sperm or entirely disregarded.

when I find a paper that slanders my darlings, fairly or unfairly, it goes here. last updated sep 2026.

look what they’re doing to my boys

Drones are the equivalent of sperm cells in multicellular organisms (Moritz and Southwick 1992, pp. 216–218) and can therefore be referred to as sperm bees. 

– Bonhoff, H.A., Helanterä, H. On the life history of the honey bee superorganism. Insect. Soc. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-026-01124-7

They can be considered as flying gametes, and produce cloned sperm (i.e., all gametes produced by a drone are genetically identical).

– Brascamp and Bijma: Methods to estimate breeding values in honey bees. Genetics Selection Evolution 2014 46:53.