>...both worker and queen larvae are submerged in a "pool
of royal jelly" for 2 to 3 days...

Well, a lot of people say that, but I don’t think it’s completely
correct.

Eva Crane writes this:  “Worker larval food was found to contain only
12% sugar up to 1 1/4 days (it probably remained very low up to 2 1/2
days), whereas the food of a queen larval contained much sugar (34%)
throughout the period when it was 1 to 4 days old”  She goes on to say:
"Worker larvae are fed at first on 'worker jelly' which is relatively
low in sugars. After larvae are 1 1/2 to 3 days old the food is changed
to 'modified worker jelly', with some honey and pollen."

Mark Winston writes:  “The food of queen larvae is referred to as
“royal jelly”, and it differs from worker food in containing more
mandibular gland secretions and in the quantity that is fed to the
brood.  The food of worker larvae contains a ratio of 2:9:3 of white to
clear to yellow components (averaged over the 5 days of larval
feeding). The white component contains mandibular gland secretions, the
clear material originates form the hypopharyngeal glands, and the
yellow component is mostly pollen. In contrast, queen larvae receive
mostly white food during the first days, and a 1:1 ratio of white to
clear during the last 2 days of feeding. Thus, queen larvae receive a
much higher proportion of mandibular gland secretion than do worker
larvae.”

Diana Sammataro also distinguishes between “worker jelly” and “royal
jelly” in her ‘The Beekeeper’s Handbook’

Harry Laidlaw writes in ‘Contemporary Queen Rearing’: “It has been
shown that queens reared from larvae that began their development
toward queens upon hatching had more ovarioles in the ovaries than
those that were developing for even a few hours toward becoming
workers.”

While there is a 3 day window to successfully change the caste, it
seems to me from what I read that queens or workers under normal
circumstances develop into one or the other from the start depending on
what they are fed.

Regards,
Dick Allen

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