Abstract:
Mating flight records are presented for males (drones) of the Asian dwarf honeybee species
Apis florea. These include observations on longevity, mortality and inclusive flight records for a cohort of
known-aged males. Averages for flight performance show the flights/lifetime to be 15.3 (± 11.8 SD); the
number of flight days, 9.1 (± 6.5 SD) and a drone mating flight lasting ca. 31 min (± 9 min, 27 s SD). For
a smaller group of known-aged males, for which complete daily flight performance was recorded for all
days of flight, the mean summed flight time was 6 h 38 min (± 5 h 53 min SD). Longevity and mortality
data show the average age for commencement of flight to be 5.6 days (± 1.3 SD) and the mean age for the
final flight to be 15.6 days (± 9.2 SD), providing an average reproductive flight window of 10 days. These
observations for A. florea male longevity and mortality are significantly shorter than those reported for the
western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) as observed in temperate climates of North America.
