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

Any female bee larva COULD become a queen if fed with sufficient royal jelly. They all have the genetic potential but it’s “tuned off”

Special proteins in the jelly, plus the extra supply of food, signal the developing bee to turn into a queen. A protein called Royalactin seems to be the most important one but there’s a bunch of other protiens and stuff too