Workers make the queens in melipona bees: identification of geraniol as a caste determining compound from labial glands of nurse bees.

Reproductive division of labor in advanced eusocial honey bees and stingless bees is based on the ability of totipotent female larvae to develop into either workers or queens. In nearly all species, caste is determined by larval nutrition. However, the mechanism that triggers queen development in Melipona bees is still unresolved.