03/19/2021
HomeMaggie is the queen of the bee. She exceeds its congeners by a few heads and a few abdomens and her life expectancy is of 4 years .
She makes a lot of envy in the hive, because, she has a hectic life: she spends her time reproducing while all the others devote their short and monotonous existence, only to tedious and repetitive work… and yes, short life because their average life expectancy is only 45 days.
However, when they born, nothing was predestinated nor Maggie, nor his fellows to the life they had. They were, all endowed with the same genetic potential.
But Maggie got a favor treatment! When she was born, and was still just a larva, while her sisters were fed with royal jelly for two days and then quickly switched to the honey diet, MAGGIE, continued to be fed with royal jelly during her childhood and then all her life…It’s this special feed and only that, which will make the queen so different from other bees. And yes, it’s the food which makes the queen!
While honey is composed almost only by sugar and water, the royal jelly also contains proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, which play special role. They are the components which make the nutritional richness of royal jelly. They are called nutrients, and it’s these precious nutrients, that will awake the sleeping genes of the common bee to transform it into a future queen. This link between the expression of a gene, the quality of food and the richness of the environment is a true symbol of the power but also of the fragility of the food chain.
To go further:
If you want you can read the book of Pierre Weill « Fat planet ».
