Honey bee drones rely on their sense of smell to find and mate with virgin queens during mating flights. These flights occur periodically throughout the year, and drones from multiple hives may participate in a single mating flight. To attract drones, virgin queens emit a pheromone that contains several different chemical compounds. In order to detect the chemical compounds released by a queen, drone bees must express odorant receptors that specifically bind to these molecules. This study used a combination of molecular biology and electrophysiological techniques to identify one of these receptors. The findings of this study will help us to better understand how drones find queens and mate with them and could eventually lead to the development of new tools to control drone behavior.

Drone honey bees play an important role in the reproduction of their colony. During mating flights, they disperse from their hive and mate with virgin queens from other colonies. This process ensures genetic diversity within the bee population and helps to maintain colony health. In order to find and mate with virgin queens, drones rely on their sense of smell.

Virgin queens emit a pheromone that contains several different chemical compounds. Drones must express odorant receptors that specifically bind to these molecules in order to detect the pheromone. This study used a combination of molecular biology and electrophysiological techniques to identify one of these receptors.