It's not the royal jelly we thought it was.

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It's not the royal jelly we thought it was.

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Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 15 4:58 pm Post subject: It's not the royal jelly we thought it was.

It's common belief in beekeeping circles that chemicals, enzymes & extra nutrients in queen substance are needed to raise queens but it turns out the exact opposite.
The chemicals & enzymes in honey & pollen suppress worker bees ovary development.
Royal Jelly Isn’t What Makes a Queen Bee a Queen Bee.
If that is correct, & I have no reason to doubt it, then feeding excess sugar which also lacks the chemicals & enzymes that repress ovary development could be a cause of laying workers?
Only hypothesing, someone else can prove it, I'm only feeding my bees sugar as a last resort.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46245
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 15 5:19 pm Post subject:
it makes sense if an active queen suppresses the workers creating a new one and the lack of an active queen vice versa a bit like an unfertilized female plant growing male flowers

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15993

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 15 6:26 am Post subject:

Under extreme conditions it is possible for workers to produce eggs though isn't it? I know they will usually promote an egg or young larva if they lose the queen, and under those conditions the queen isn't usually of good quality.

An interesting report, and turns the received wisdom on its head. Reading bee books of the 16th and 17th centuries, there are some interesting assumptions in those as so much of the activity of bees is hidden. At that time they assumed that bees were 'chaste' as nobody had ever seen a mating flight, among other things.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 15 8:10 am Post subject:

I just reread my post & I shouldn't have said 'could be a cause' but it could be a contributory or aggravating factor to other stimuli IMHO.
Obviously it would need proving & I'm not feeding sugar to my bees. But I bet some bright spark is thinking the same, & will synthesise additives at great expense to the beekeeper, & probably only partially effective.
Food additives to bees don't need rigorous testing or approval & in many instances their efficacy are very dubious & in some even dangerous to the bees.
Stick with the real thing is my advice.

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