Stories and Analogies

Every female honeybee larva starts with the same instruction manual: the same DNA to build a body. At first, they all have the potential to become either a big, long-lived queen or a smaller, hard-working bee.

For the first few days, every larva eats the same thing: a special, protein-packed food called royal jelly. Then something changes. Most larvae are switched to a diet of honey and pollen (called bee bread). Only a lucky few keep their all-you-can-eat royal jelly buffet for life. Those few will grow into queens 👑.

Here’s where epigenetics comes in (that means “on top of genetics,” more on this later!). The DNA doesn’t change, but royal jelly acts like a giant light switch 💡. It tells the same DNA to be read in a completely different way.

How does this work? Royal jelly seems to block a process called DNA methylation. That’s when little chemical “tags” get added to DNA, usually shutting genes off. Royal jelly prevents those tags from sticking, so the “queen genes” stay on. As a result, the larva develops a larger body, fully developed ovaries, and the power to live for years and lay thousands of eggs.

In the hive, food literally decides your destiny. Worker or queen, ordinary or extraordinary, it all comes down to what’s on your plate 🍽️.