Drones are the larger bee's you see hanging around the hive. The primary focus for a drone is to mate with a Queen. Hundreds or even thousands of drone bees will compete to mate with a Queen, they don't fight. They simply see who can fly closest to the Queen to successfully mate. A Queen only mates during one brief period in her early life. She will mate with drones from numerous colonies, broadening the genetic pool which allows the hive a greater chance of being strong and resilient and is essential to the future of bees.
