Larval pheromones act as colony-wide regulators of collective foraging behavior in honeybees

Chemical signals profoundly influence animal behavior, but how are they spread? Honeybees provide a unique opportunity to study chemical communication in large groups because their signals can regulate the behavior of thousands of individuals simultaneously. Here, we demonstrate that adult honeybees detect and respond over large distances to pheromones produced by larvae, suggesting that these chemical signals act globally across the colony.