ArticleBMC biology2024
Pheromone relay networks in the honeybee: messenger workers distribute the queen's fertility signal throughout the hive.
Article in BMC biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Never underestimate honeybees: Their exceptionally diverse adaptive strategies.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Pheromone relay networks in the honeybee: messenger workers distribute the queen's fertility signal throughout the hive.BMC biology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe harmonious operation of many insect societies depends upon colony-wide dissemination of a non-volatile pheromone produced by a single queen, which informs workers of her presence. This represents a major challenge in large colonies. Honeybee colonies, which can exceed 60,000 bees, are believed to solve this challenge using 'messenger' workers that actively relay the queen pheromone throughout the hive. However, little is known about the structure and effectiveness of the underlying relay network or the biology of messaging.
resultsHere, we combine automated tracking with modelling to address these outstanding questions. We find that both queen movement and worker messaging play fundamental roles in queen pheromone dissemination. Fine-grained analyses of worker behaviour confirmed the existence of active messaging, as physical contacts with the queen caused workers to move faster and straighter, thereby accelerating pheromone transmission. Finally, we show that messaging follows a stereotypical developmental trajectory, resulting in an age-dependent hierarchical relay network, with the most intense messaging observed between three and five days of age, when workers undergo a suite of physiological changes associated with queen rearing.
conclusionsThese results suggest that the individuals that contribute most to advertising the presence of the queen are also the ones that control queen production.
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