How an annual ‘wedding flight’ of 1,000 virgin queens is ensuring the revival of Europe’s dark bee

The European dark bee, the native subspecies of the honeybee, has evolved to live in the colder climates of parts of northern, central and western Europe. Photograph: Wirestock, Inc./Alamy

Every summer, 1,000 virgin queens descend on the Belgian town of Chimay. During the “wedding flight”, a male attaches to the female. His endophallus (penis equivalent) is torn off and he falls to the ground and dies. Mission accomplished.

Beekeepers come and pick up their fertilised queens in small colourful hives, driving them back home, sometimes more than 300km away. They will use the genetic material gathered in south Belgium to build new colonies in the Netherlands, France and Germany.