royal jelly

American  

noun

1. a viscous substance secreted from the pharyngeal glands of worker honeybees, fed to all larvae during their first few days and afterward only to those larvae selected to be queens.

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royal jelly British  

noun

1. a substance secreted by the pharyngeal glands of worker bees and fed to all larvae when very young and to larvae destined to become queens throughout their development

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Etymology

Origin of royal jelly

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

royal jelly

For many years, scientists believed the recipe for creating a queen honeybee was straightforward: give a developing larva plenty of royal jelly, and it becomes the colony's ruler.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

The vaccine is incorporated into royal jelly, a sugar feed given to queen bees.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2023

Not only has honey production fallen, but with it the quantity of other products such as royal jelly, bee pollen, bee venom and bee glue known as propolis.

From Reuters ● Nov. 22, 2022

The researchers graft the larvae into cell cups lined with royal jelly, the nutrient rich compound that young larvae gorge on to become queens.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 16, 2018

“If there’s no space in the hive, the old queen lays some eggs, which are then fed something called royal jelly so that they grow into new queens,” Mel said.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby