White eyed drone

[elainemary]

Found this pupa today in one of my hives that a worker had removed from it’s cell. It’s a drone pupa - can tell as the compound eyes spread over the entire head rather than at the sides - with one white eye. I’d heard about them but not seen before. It's a recessive trait and normally they have 2 white eyes, but this one had just one..apparently they can sometimes have just one white eye. Can even have a worker eye and a drone eye. I thought you might be interested if you haven’t seen one before.

 

[pargyle]

Fascinating aren't they ? I've only ever seen one at a friends apiary some years ago ...we'd heard about them but never seen one .... they are reasonably common I believe but the bees, I suspect, remove them and it's just a matter of luck if you get to see one, Great photo for those who've never seen them.

 

[Monbees]

Found this pupa today in one of my hives that a worker had removed from it’s cell. It’s a drone pupa - can tell as the compound eyes spread over the entire head rather than at the sides - with one white eye. I’d heard about them but not seen before. It's a recessive trait and normally they have 2 white eyes, but this one had just one..apparently they can sometimes have just one white eye. Can even have a worker eye and a drone eye. I thought you might be interested if you haven’t seen one before.

What makes the eye white? It looks like it's calcified. If the pupae are allowed to develop to adults can the bee see out of the white eye?

 

[B+.]

What makes the eye white? It looks like it's calcified. If the pupae are allowed to develop to adults can the bee see out of the white eye?

Take a look at Tom & Suki Glenns website. They have a good explanation of drone mutations there.

 

[BugsInABox]

Are they ever viable?

 

[The Poot]

Found this pupa today in one of my hives that a worker had removed from it’s cell. It’s a drone pupa - can tell as the compound eyes spread over the entire head rather than at the sides - with one white eye. I’d heard about them but not seen before. It's a recessive trait and normally they have 2 white eyes, but this one had just one..apparently they can sometimes have just one white eye. Can even have a worker eye and a drone eye. I thought you might be interested if you haven’t seen one before.

Not heard or seen this before, thanks for sharing.

 

[Monbees]

Take a look at Tom & Suki Glenns website. They have a good explanation of drone mutations there.

Really fascinating. What a lot to learn!!

 

[masterBK]

drone with one black and one red eye.

 

[elainemary]

Are they ever viable?

Whilst they seem to be accepted by some hives and move around and eat etc, they are blind so don’t ever mate

 

[elainemary]

What makes the eye white? It looks like it's calcified. If the pupae are allowed to develop to adults can the bee see out of the white eye?

No they are blind. It’s because all their genes come from the queen without inheriting genes from a ‘father’ and so a recessive gene is expressed

 

[elainemary]

Take a look at Tom & Suki Glenns website. They have a good explanation of drone mutations there.

Thanks, interesting. A white eyed queen must be v rare.

 

[B+.]

drone with one black and one red eye.

The red eye mutation is called "brick".
I have attached a list of mutations from Selektion bei der Honigbiene.

 

[B+.]

Thanks, interesting. A white eyed queen must be v rare.

mutations are seen most often in drones because they are haploid.