Question

A male honeybee has 16 chromosomes whereas its female has 32 chromosomes. Give one reason.

Answer 1

The principle behind the genetics of honeybees is that the female honeybees are formed from the fertilized eggs that follow independent assortment and segregation. Thus, there will be 32 chromosomes, in which 16 chromosomes are from the queen and 16 are from the drone male. These undergo fertilization and thus forms a female which is diploid in the state.

But, in the case of male honeybees, there are only 16 chromosomes as they are formed from the process of parthenogenesis means unfertilized eggs and are haploid in the state.