Glossary
The primary pheromone blend produced by the queen bee's mandibular glands, consisting of five main compounds that collectively maintain colony social organization: suppressing worker reproduction, inhibiting queen cell construction, attracting workers for retinue feeding, and attracting drones during mating flights.
Queen mandibular pheromone is the most important chemical signal in the honey bee colony. Produced by glands in the queen's mandibles (jaws), QMP is a blend of five primary compounds: 9-ODA (9-oxo-2-decenoic acid) is the dominant component, responsible for suppressing worker ovary development and attracting drones during mating flights. 9-HDA (9-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid) in two forms, HOB (methyl p-hydroxybenzoate), and HVA (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethanol) complete the blend. Together, these five compounds communicate one message: "There is a healthy, mated queen here."
Worker reproductive suppression: QMP prevents worker bees from developing functional ovaries and laying eggs. Without QMP (queenless colony), workers begin laying unfertilized drone eggs within 2 to 3 weeks. Swarm suppression: Adequate QMP levels inhibit the construction of queen cells (swarm cells). When QMP concentration drops (queen aging, overpopulated colony where QMP is diluted across too many bees), workers begin constructing queen cells to prepare for swarming or supersedure. Retinue attraction: Workers are drawn to attend the queen (the "retinue"), feeding her, grooming her, and distributing her QMP throughout the colony via trophallaxis.
The quality and quantity of QMP production declines as a queen ages, becomes poorly mated (depleted sperm stores), or develops health problems. Workers can detect these changes and respond accordingly: beginning queen cell construction, reducing retinue attendance, and sometimes actively harassing or balling a failing queen. QMP quality is one mechanism by which the colony assesses and manages its own leadership.
Yes. Synthetic QMP blends (such as Bee Boost and Pseudo Queen) are commercially available. They are used in swarm traps (to attract swarms), during package installation (to stabilize queenless bees), and in queen-rearing operations (to suppress emergency queen cell construction while a desired queen is being introduced). They are not a substitute for a living queen but are useful management tools.
QMP is distributed through contact: retinue bees touch the queen and absorb QMP onto their bodies. They then distribute it to other bees through trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth food exchange) and physical contact. The QMP signal reaches every bee in the colony within approximately 30 minutes through this social distribution network.
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