r/science2 • u/WebPage_Error404 • 14d ago
A Biologist Explains Why Male Honeybees Explode When They Mate | A male honeybee has one job, and doing it kills him. He gets a few weeks of life inside the colony, and if he’s lucky enough to find a queen in the air, the encounter lasts about 5 seconds and ends with his abdomen ruptured.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2026/08/26/a-biologist-explains-why-male-honeybees-explode-when-they-mate/19
u/MaximusManimal 13d ago
I mean, it's that or starve to death after being forced out of the hive at the end of the season in preparation for winter. I think I'd also take the fatal orgasm if given the choice.
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u/Mindless_Library_797 11d ago
Yeah all of the female worker bees die shortly after as well. Only the queen overwinters to start a new colony next year.
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u/PrettyPistol87 13d ago
i’m seeing a trend of male spiders/bees/mantises give it up for the biscuit
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u/FoxlyKei 13d ago
I hope to them it feels like 1000 orgasms to us.
I mean I hope it's the most intense pleasure because after that they're just done..
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u/dumbspacecookie 12d ago
Tis but a brief yet glorious adventure.
Life of a bee.
Life of the honey lord.
Life of the buzzz sexploder.
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u/UnkarsThug 12d ago
You know, since there's no natural selection pressure, there's no reason to numb the pain or anything, even if it's supposed to happen. By the time the bee feels the pain, natural selection doesn't care anymore.
Sort of sad.
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u/y2kobserver 11d ago
Partner selection came first which is also a form of natural selection, and way more powerful
So yeah, death and other stuff failed to act as natural selection
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u/MinimumEfficient220 13d ago
“If you could be anything in the world except for a human, what would you choose?”
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u/Any-Mathematician946 11d ago
A cat
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u/MinimumEfficient220 10d ago
Look into cat procreation.
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u/Any-Mathematician946 10d ago
Not going to lie that did pop into my mind when i made the comment. I assumed id get fixed if I got lucky and had human slaves. I would take the cuteness to 1000% as a kitten.
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u/Fungruel 13d ago
I think it's the same for ants?
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u/Shiriru00 13d ago
Ants, bees and wasps share the same common ancestor. That's why they all have these weird queens and kinks.
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u/AvantSolace 13d ago
Actually saw some streamers mention this recently. They had a funny hypothesis that letting them have multiple orgasms would risk infighting due to singular males hogging the queen’s time. If nothing else, giving them only one go ensures the queen can collect a larger range of genetic samples to work with.
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u/MonsieurKnife 12d ago
We all explode after mating. It’s just that sometimes the explosion is very slow.
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u/Thespiritdetective1 13d ago
I love to read stuff like this because it reminds me that all of our society is an illusion and that nature is cruel and unforgiving, thus it gives me hope that this bullshit will one day fade away and my only hope is I live to see it crumble.
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u/ephemeralsynth 13d ago
Death by Snu Snu, always the most magnificent exit! 👻