eli5: How exactly does the Royal Jelly turn an ordinary bee larvae into a Queen?

Question

eli5: How exactly does the Royal Jelly turn an ordinary bee larvae into a Queen?

In: 205

Answer 1

Just recently learned this. The royal jelly isn’t actually what makes a queen, but rather the lack of pollen.

Normally, as a source of protein, bees eat pollen. The pollen causes female larvae to not develop with functional ovaries. The queens aren’t fed that pollen, so their ovaries develop as normal. The royal jelly is a protein substitute, because they do still need protein to grow.