The drone refers to the male bee. Unlike the worker bees, it develops from an unfertilized egg and has no stinger. During the early and summer months, from around May to July, there are often several hundred drones living in the bee colony, whose sole task is to mate with the queen bee during her nuptial flight. After the mating season and at the end of the summer, the drones are driven out of the colony in a process known as the drone battle.