Early last September, some fellow beekeepers reported that the females in their bee colonies had already given the bum's rush to the males, the drones, kicking them out in the cold. As I've explained, the male bees don't usually survive sex with their domineering partners, but if they do, their long-suffering sisters will make sure they don't live much longer. As winter approaches, the worker bees treat the drones like Aesop's ants treated the grasshopper—they toss the poor guys out to die in the cold.
This is an annual form of gendercide, but September is normally too early to be considered normal. The days are still warm and flowers still blooming all over the area. Speculation as to why included climate change or the bee maladies of late—mites, mysterious hive declines, and even a new one called “zombie bee” syndrome, but whatever the cause, it's probably not good news. Especially not for the drones.