Bees (IMAGE)

Penn State

Bees

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

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