>......I seem to remember from class readings that all bee larvae are fed identically until they are three days of age, at which point any larvae meant to become queens are fed a special diet...... 


Hi Janet, Hadak's work concludes something different than the standard line that all larvae are fed the same food for the first three days and then switched.  I think it's reasonable to assume, based on the research, that royal jelly and worker jelly are distinctly different and are fed to queen larvae and worker larvae separately. Otherwise, the epigenetic effects of royal jelly that creates queens wouldn't be important and you could make the exact same queen from three-day-old larvae as you could from newly hatched one-day-old larvae and we know that's not possible.  I think the confusion with this issue comes from the fact that both worker larvae and queen larvae are fed secretions from worker's mandibular and hypopharyngeal glands but in different ratios- queens at 1:1 and workers 3:1 or 4:1(See Haydak for the nutritional difference). The switch at three days occurs when worker larvae begin to get pollen added to their diet which Hadak then calls "modified worker jelly.


> HONEY BEE NUTRITION - MYKOLA H. HAYDAK



Bill Hesbach 
Cheshire CT.

 

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