Royal jelly makes one live longer: Why queen bees survive 40-times longer than workers

Add to My Stories

Amber nectar: A busy bee in a honeycomb. Royal jelly is a thick, milky-white substance secreted by the glands of honeybees. And Queen bees live exclusively on itIt seems you really are what you eat - if you're a bee.
Queen bees live 40 times longer than their workers thanks to a miraculous nutrient in the milky liquid that makes up their whole diet.Their eating habits mean they become almost twice the size and more than double the weight of other female bees, despite having no genetic advantage.
The active ingredient of royal jelly, the chemical brew produced from pollen and secreted from glands on the top of young nurse bees heads, also helps them become 42 per cent larger and weigh 60 per cent more than the rest.Experiments on fruit flies and honeybees found the protein, royalactin, triggers molecules that are responsible for the increased body size and faster development of queen bees.Both sets of insects grew larger, improved their reproductive capacity and lived longer after being reared on royalactin, according to the findings published in Nature.Dr Masaki Kamakura, of Toyama Prefectural University, Japan, said: 'The honeybee forms two female castes - the queen and the worker.'This dimorphism (difference) depends not on genetic differences, but on ingestion of royal jelly, although the mechanism through which royal jelly regulates caste differentiation has long remained unknown.'Here I show a protein in royal jelly, previously designated as royalactin, induces the differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens.'
Royal jellys powerful properties have fascinated people for thousands of years, going back to the time of the ancient Egyptians who used it to keep their skin glowing. It was even used to help preserve the mummies.

More...

• What a stinker! World's smelliest flower opens for the first time in a DECADE
• Mas s hysteria! Science world buzzing over rumours the elusive 'God particle' has finally been found

The use of royal jelly in face cream and other products is very popular in Europe. Many companies today use this ingredient in various creams and skin care products to preventing wrinkles and ageing of skin.Royal jelly also featured as the theme of a chilling Roald Dahl short story about a beekeeper and his wife worried their newborn daughter is not eating properly.It only starts to thrive after he secretly begins giving her the highly nutritious substance his bees are giving to the larvae of their queens.

Giver of youth? The use of royal jelly in face cream and other products is very popular in Europe. Many companies today use this ingredient in various creams and skin care products to preventing wrinkles and ageing of skinBut the beekeeper decides to try some too - and ends up turning into a bee!
Royal jelly is a thick, milky-white substance secreted by the glands of honeybees.
Queen bees live exclusively on it and it accounts for their incredible size and longevity.Amazingly, queen bees live seven years as compared to the seven week lifespan of workers. They are fertilized once, and from that moment on can lay as many as three thousand eggs a day during the season with each brood equal to two and a half times her own body weight.As incredible as this may seem, she can lay that many eggs for five years - a remarkable display of energy and vitality that is owed entirely to royal jelly.And the rich concentrated food is not just useful for bees as it contains remarkable amounts of proteins, vitamins, hormones and minerals.Studies indicate the effectiveness of royal jelly for tiredness and overwork, anxiety, insomnia, asthma, hepatitis, gout and heart disease. It is also said to reverse the ageing process and boost sexual performance.Dr Kamakura said his results may provide ! insights into the evolution of bees and other insects, along with their social organisation.
He said: 'Caste in social insects represents one of the major transitions from one level of organisation to another in evolution.'Here I provide the first evidence, to my knowledge, that royalactin acts in the honeybeeduce queen diffentiation.'
Furthermore, royalactin in fruit flies caused changes resembling those of queen bees through 'a similar mechanism'.Dr Kamakura said: 'The association between royal jelly and caste formation has been known for more than 100 years, but the identity of the component in royal jelly and queen development has been elusive.'
He added that further research will be required to investigate the mechanism through which royalactin regulates lifespan in the fruitfly and the honeybee.