A Honeybee With Two Fathers And No Mother

A female honeybee with two fathers -- and no mother -- has been discovered; the first ever of her kind observed in nature

Female worker honeybee, Apis mellifera. (Credit: Cumnor Hill, Sharp Photography / CC BY-SA 3.0)

A team of scientists discovered a female honeybee that has two fathers -- and no mother -- the first ever of her kind observed in nature.

Female bees, ants and wasps (Hymenoptera) arise from fertilized eggs that have one set of chromosomes from each parent, whilst males result from unfertilized eggs. In honeybees, females -- queens and workers -- have a total of 32 chromosomes, whereas males (drones) only have half as many.