This is the wing of a male bee, or drone, whose singular purpose in the colony is to mate with the queen. After he's fulfilled this mission, he dies. As mating occurs while the bees are in flight, the drones need powerful wings to pursue the queen.

The wings of female worker bees are powerful, too. A worker beats its wings up to 230 times per second, creating the buzzing sound that signals the presence of a busy beehive. Workers beat their wings to create warmth inside the hive, which helps evaporate away the water in the nectar and speeds its transformation into thick honey.