How is the reproductive capability of a queen compared to a drone?

The reproductive capability of a queen bee is significantly higher than that of a drone bee. A queen can lay thousands of eggs daily during the peak season and is the sole egg-laying female in the hive, making her central to the colony's reproduction and population maintenance. In contrast, drones are male bees whose primary role is to mate with a queen, and they do not lay eggs at all. Drones do not reproduce independently; their sole function is to fly out of the hive during mating flights to mate with a queen from another colony.

While drones are part of the reproductive cycle, they do not contribute to reproduction in the same sustained manner as a queen. Instead, their existence is limited to mating and they do not have a role in egg-laying or colony production. This difference in roles and capabilities clearly demonstrates why the queen's ability to reproduce is much more frequent and prolific compared to that of drones.