Life isn't fun for male bees. From being called a "drone," to sacrificing your life for a chance to reproduce, to living only six weeks just to get kicked out of your home - it's not a glamorous life. A drone successful in charming a queen has a less than 1% chance of passing on its genes.
Studies show that the most commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides decrease the amount of viable genetic material that drones can provide. The result of this drop in genetic diversity is hives that are prone to disease, drought, parasites, and other environmental epidemics which threaten our food security and impact the economy of food production.
Aside from making honey, a delicious natural sweetener, honeybees also provide a crucial service to
agriculture: pollination. From apples to almonds, many crops would suffer without honeybees. Pesticides, land development, and electromagnetic pollution – all human induced – often harm honeybees' ability to reproduce, and are leading to a decline in their numbers.