How do Bees Mate?
A queen bee has a limited time to mate. She will usually only mate once in her lifetime. She leaves the nest around a week after she emerges from her brood cell. She will then meet up with drone bees by releasing a pheremone to attract them. She will then mate with around 10-20 drones until her sac in filled. She will use this sac of sperm for her entire life. However, if for some reason she can’t leave the nest (such as bad weather) during her mating time, she will become a drone layer which usually means the death of the colony because she can not lay a fertile female.
