Female Megalopta sweat bees must choose whether to remain as helpers in their mother’s nest or leave to reproduce independently.
Researchers found that pheromones produced by the queen both suppress daughters’ ovarian development during a critical period and convey information about the queen’s reproductive condition. Higher pheromone levels were associated with daughters remaining to help, making the signal a decentralised mechanism through which individuals assess whether continued cooperation benefits them.
https://phys.org/news/2026-07-queen-bee-pheromones-daughters-stay.html
