Research Progress of Royal Jelly Effect on Honeybee Learning and Memory

Queen and worker are two castes and have completely different jobs in a honeybee colony. The differences in phenotype and function of this two casts are related to their food royal jelly. Royal jelly from young workers serves as an important food source for lifetime of queens and less than three days old of worker larvae, which also plays a critical role in the healthy development of honeybee colony. However, the effects of royal jelly on the cognitive and behavioral ability of honeybees has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, this paper summarizes the progress of the research on learning and memory of honeybee itself owing to the royal jelly, in order to provide certain theoretical ideas for the future investigation on honeybee’s cognitive behavior.