Bees (IMAGE) Penn State Caption Worker honey bees perform a "retinue response," in which they are attracted to the queen (marked with a number tag), surround her, lick her, and "smell" her with their antennae. This behavior allows the workers to pick up the queen pheromone and spread it throughout the colony. The queen pheromone provides "honest" information to the workers about her presence, mating status, and mating quality. Credit Bernardo Niño, Penn State Usage Restrictions Non commercial use only License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.