queen substance

queen substance Word Origin noun

1. a pheromone secreted from the mandibular glands of a queen honeybee and smelled, eaten, and absorbed by the worker bees, having the effect of preventing them from producing or rearing rival queens.

Origin of queen substance First recorded in 1950–55 British Dictionary definitions for queen substance queen substance noun

1. a pheromone secreted by queen honeybees and consumed by the workers, in whom it causes suppression of egg-laying