REUTERS - Honeybee queens come from the same ordinary fertilized female eggs as worker bees. So how does one bee become a queen - with the responsibility of serving as the colony's only baby maker - rather than just another worker? Until now, scientists believed it was solely because the chosen bee was served a special diet.
New research indicates that another critical factor is at play - the nature of the wax chamber built for her by the cadre of all-female worker bees. While these workers provide the future queen a nutrient-rich substance called royal jelly that they secrete, the larval development chamber that they build for her also has unique physical and chemical qualities.
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Beyond the biology, the work could eventually help beekeepers breed healthier queens, said Boris Baer, professor of pollinator health at the University of California, Riverside, and one of the study's leaders.