Queen Bee Pheromones Guide Daughters' Nest Choices

Female sweat bees need to make a pivotal life decision: remain in the nest to help their mother raise more offspring or leave to establish nests of their own. New research from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found that queen pheromones help influence that choice, offering new insight into how cooperation evolved in insect societies. In a study published July 28 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B , STRI and Princeton University postdoctoral fellow Callum Kingwell, STRI staff scientist Bill Wcislo and colleagues identified for the first time that via pheromones, sweat bee queens of the species Megalopta genalis communicate to their daughters that sticking by them is a worthwhile investment.