The Micronutrient-Rich Royal Jelly of Bees

The micronutrient content of bee feed decisively determines whether larvae become queens or only worker bees. Every bee larvae carries the same genetic predisposition. Their potential to develop into a queen is regulated by the nurse bees which change the quality of the diet three days after hatching. Mostly fed with pollen and nectar, most bees become workers. Only a few, privileged larvae receive the royal jelly, a high-quality micronutrient-rich secretion. In addition to sugar, water and protein, it contains fatty acids, thiamine (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), niacin and folic acid.

Australian and German scientists have found an answer to how such a major difference in the function and shape of bees can result from the same genome (1). Due to the changed diet, chemical changes (methylation) take place on the surface of the DNA. Genetic analyzes of the research group suggest that methylation affects the splicing, meaning the assembly of the “genetic blueprint” into a finished protein and thus cause epigenetic changes. Since this connection between diet and genetic material can also be demonstrated in humans, this can be a vivid motive for engaging in micronutrient deficiency in the first 1,000 days of life (2).

Read and see more:

(1) Frank Lyko et al.: The Honey Bee Epigenomes: Differential methylation of brain DNA in queens and workers. PLos One Biology. 2010 Nov 2;8(11):e1000506. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000506, available via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21072239 and S. Foret et al. DNA methylation dynamics, metabolic fluxes, gene splicing, and alternative phenotypes in honey bees. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Mar 27;109(13):4968-73. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1202392109. Epub 2012 Mar 13.

(2) Assmann Foundation for Prevention. Blog: Epigenetik als Impuls für die Primärprävention des Metabolischen Syndroms – Das Konzept der Vegetativen Prägung [99], available in German via https://www.assmann-stiftung.de/epigenetik-als-impuls-fuer-die-primaerpraevention-des-metabolischen-syndroms-das-konzept-der-vegetativen-praegung-99/