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<\/p>\nThe peanut-shaped compartments where future queens grow up seem to play an important role in development. The wax has chemical and physical differences from that in other parts of the hive<\/p>\n
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Margherita Bassi<\/a><\/p>\n | Daily Correspondent<\/p>\n June 5, 2026 10:00 a.m.<\/p>\n Queen bee larvae develop in unique peanut-shaped cells. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a highly specialized beehive chamber to raise a honeybee queen, according to new research.<\/p>\n In a study published on June 3 in the journal\u00a0Nature<\/a>, researchers describe how a queen\u2019s royal compartment seems to have unique properties that might help a monarch emerge. Additionally, they identify a distinct group of worker bees responsible for building the special nurseries. The findings reveal a previously unknown \u201cjob\u201d held by the insects as well as new factors that contribute to royalty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Honeybees each hold a different position within their complex societies. A queen is typically the only reproductive female in a colony, and male drones mate with her. Female worker bees stay busy buzzing around collecting nectar and pollen, maintaining the beehive and caring for the queen and her offspring. \u00a0<\/p>\n Previously, researchers thought that queens rose to power primarily because they gorged themselves with royal jelly, a substance secreted by worker bees. Young monarchs also grow up in waxy beehive compartments, called cells, shaped differently from the typical hexagonal ones. A royal chamber looks like a peanut protruding from the hive. But until recently, scientists paid little attention to the shelters\u2019 possible role in shaping a queen.<\/p>\n \u201cFor centuries, we believed \u2018you are what you eat\u2019 was the only rule for making a queen bee. Our study rewrites that rule to say, \u2018you are where you live, too,\u2019\u201d study co-author\u00a0Kai Wang<\/a>, a bee researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, tells the\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>\u2019 Adithi Ramakrishnan.<\/p>\n The study was partially inspired by a question posed a few years ago by Wang\u2019s son, who was then 2 years old. When the scientist showed him a hive in the lab, the boy pointed to a queen cell and asked why it looked so different from the other cells, Wang tells BBC\u00a0Discover Wildlife<\/a>\u2019s Helen Pilcher.<\/p>\n \u201cThat innocent question hit me like a lightning bolt,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Quick fact: How many honeybee species?<\/p>\n Experts currently recognize at least nine<\/a> honeybee species worldwide. This study involved two of them,\u00a0Apis cerana and Apis mellifera.<\/p>\n Wang and his colleagues then proceeded to study this very special bee house. Microscope images revealed that queen cell wax is more pliable and less dense than worker cell wax, and further tests indicated it has a higher melting point and chemical distinctions.<\/p>\n The researchers also raised dozens of baby queens for seven days in cups capped with either worker wax or queen wax. Bees that grew up surrounded by worker wax were smaller and had higher death rates compared to those in royal wax, the team found. The results indicate that the queen cells\u2019 distinct biochemical environment plays a vital part in the youngsters\u2019 development.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bees that build the queen cells are also special, according to the researchers. They are usually younger than worker cell builders, and they have higher body temperatures and different gene activity. The royal construction workers seem to modify recycled wax by adding newly secreted substances, such as fatty compounds called lipids, the team found.<\/p>\n \u201cThe discovery is very cool and thought-provoking,\u201d says Thomas Seeley<\/a>, a biologist at Cornell University who didn\u2019t participate in the research, to Science News<\/a>\u2019 Anirban Mukhopadhyay. \u201cTo me, queen cells have long seemed important because odors from a developing queen may permeate the wax walls, marking them as very special spots that workers recognize and don\u2019t accidentally damage.\u201d<\/p>\n 10 Incredible Facts About Honeybees<\/p>\n Ecologist James Nieh<\/a> finds the discovery of the wax\u2019s role \u201cquite interesting,\u201d reports Chemical & Engineering News<\/a>\u2019 Soumya Sagar. He\u2019s curious about whether something similar takes place in other bees, such as members of the Melipona genus, in which \u201cthe workers themselves decide whether or not to become a queen.\u201d The answer might lie in the queen cells\u2019 chemical traits, notes Nieh, of the University of California, San Diego, who wasn\u2019t involved in the study.<\/p>\n Many mysteries remain, and the team is particularly intrigued by the unique chemical scents they identified in the royal cells. \u201cAre they influencing the developing queen\u2019s senses, preparing her for mating and life after emergence?\u201d Wang wonders, per Science News. \u201cAre some produced by the larva herself? And could the future queen be actively communicating with the workers constructing her chamber?\u201d<\/p>\n In the future, the researchers aim to figure out exactly when the royal wax begins to shape a growing queen\u2019s development.<\/p>\n Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The peanut-shaped compartments where future queens grow up seem to play an important role in development. 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