Seven
I pulled open the top cover of the hive. As I did, the vibrations from the workers inside became louder. Their singing pinged through my entire body. Peering inside I saw that the hive was buzzing with activity. A healthy queen lay in the center, surrounded by her drones. The male bees lined up around her, waiting attentively, hoping to be chosen for the next round of copulation.
The queen took flight. Drones flanked her, trying desperately to keep up, to get ahead, so they might be chosen to enter the queen. Finally one gained the advantage. He mounted the queen from behind, aligning his p***s with the queen. The copulation took less than a minute. I couldn’t see any thrusting, but that didn’t stop my imagination. Especially as I watched the other drones try to keep up, eager for
