TheBoost said:
Wasps don't hunt in packs though.
Neither do bees. They do defend in packs though. That thermal thing is weird to see. They do that to bumble bees, hornets, etc. The wasp would have to be trying to get into the hive and steal honey though. They don't go out looking for them.
Oh, and since you guys are posting nightmare scenarios - every winter the colony either forcibly removes or kills all the drones (males). Once the temperatures get below 50 and stays that way for a while, the colony knows winter is coming. Since the males do nothing at all within the colony and would just be eating the stored food through the winter, they're asked to leave.
It's a matter of colony survival. A strong hive is about 70,000 bees, about 200 of which are males. If it's a long winter, that's 200 fewer mouths to eat up the honey.
The queen lays new drone eggs the following spring. She decides what to make - male or female - every time she lays an egg. Males are only kept around in case of an emergency, which would be the queen dying. If the colony has to make a new queen suddenly, they'll need a few fellas on hand to mate when she takes her first flight.
Beyond that, the males don't really do anything. They occasionally gather pollen, nectar, or water, but they don't feed the queen and they don't take care of babies. They can't defend the hive either (no stinger). They sometimes fan the entrance to reduce the heat, but that's about it.