royal jelly
secretion from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees
AI overview
Royal jelly is a nutrient-rich secretion produced by young worker bees from glands in their heads, which they use to feed developing bee larvae. It's particularly significant because queen bees are fed royal jelly exclusively throughout their development, which scientists believe plays a key role in determining whether a larva develops into a queen or a regular worker bee.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
Developing queen larvae surrounded by royal jelly Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.
Queen larva in a cell on a frame with bees During the process of creating new queens, the workers construct special queen cells. The larvae in these cells are fed with copious amounts of royal jelly. This type of feeding in part triggers the development of queen morphology, including the fully developed ovaries needed to lay eggs. Note however that some newer research shows it is not solely the presence of royal jelly that develops the queen but rather the absence of certain other nutrients fed to worker bees.