The Hidden Code of Bee Societies The intricacies of insect social structures have long fascinated humans, and recent research on bee colonies has shed new light on their remarkable organization.
A team of scientists from Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, along with colleagues from the universities in Cologne and Frankfurt/Main, has discovered a neural switch that determines which jobs worker bees perform as they age.
By manipulating specific brain circuits associated with the doublesex gene, researchers were able to alter the behavior of older worker bees.