Genetics of the Honey Bee
The family relationships within a colony of bees are different from other agriculturally important animals as a consequence of mating habits, social structure, and drones developing from unfertil ized eggs. The honey bee colony found in nature is a complex family group, best described as a Superfamily. This superfamily consists of: (1) one mother queen, (2) several father drones present as sperm in a sperm storage organ (spermatheca) of the queen, and (3) the worker and drone offspring of the mother and fathers.