Within a hive, an average of 60,000 bees (a queen, workers, and drones) live together and work towards a common goal: the survival of the colony. As the only fertile female, the queen is the central pillar of reproduction and lays more than 2,000 eggs a day in spring. She is the only one to feed exclusively on royal jelly since the larval stage and becomes queen only thanks to this particular diet. The workers are all the other females of the hive who ensure the colony's future by feeding the queen and the drones, watching over the larvae, producing wax, making honey, and protecting the hive. The drones' sole mission is to mate with the queen. They do not produce honey and, deprived of stingers, cannot even defend the hive.