Importance of Pheromones

● Scientists are closely studying the effect of the odor of pheromones, an external secretion similar to hormones. These are used among some insects to attract others of the same species. In beehives the queen has been given special nourishment and raised in an oversized cell. But what is to prevent other bees from developing the ability to lay eggs and thus become rival queens? The evidence suggests that the reigning queen secretes a pheromone that affects worker bees who smell or eat minute quantities of it. This prevents the ovaries in the worker bees from maturing and regulates their ability to build royal cells. However, when the queen dies or leaves the hive to start a new colony, the odor of her pheromones disappears. The remaining bees soon begin once again to construct royal cells in order to produce a replacement queen.