Royal jelly

Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of the larvae. It is secreted from the hypopharyngeal glands in the heads of young workers and used (amongst other substances) to feed all of the larvae in the colony, including those destined to become workers. If a queen is needed, the hatchling will receive only royal jelly - and in large quantities - as its food source for the first four days of its growth, and this rapid, early feeding triggers the development of queen morphology, including the fully developed ovaries needed to lay eggs. Some commercial royal jelly suppliers disseminate misinformation such as "Only queen larvae and adult queens are fed royal jelly"; the fact remains that all larvae in a colony are fed royal jelly, and adult bees do not consume it at all.

Cultivation
Royal jelly is produced by stimulating colonies with movable frame hives to produce queen bees. Royal jelly is collected from each individual queen cell when the larva is about four days old. It is collected from queen cells because these are the only cells in which large amounts are deposited; when royal jelly is fed to worker larvae, it is fed directly to them, and they consume it as it is produced, while the cells of queen larvae are "stocked" with royal jelly much faster than the larva can consume it. Therefore, only in queen cells is the harvest of royal jelly practical.

A well-managed hive during a season of 5-6 months can produce approximately 500g of royal jelly. Since the product is perishable, producers must have immediate access to proper cold storage (e.g., a household refrigerator or freezer) in which the royal jelly is stored until it is sold or conveyed to a collection centre.

This product is combined with honey for preservation, as it spoils easily.

Uses, Composition
People collect and sell royal jelly as a dietary supplement, claiming various health benefits because of components like B-complex vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine); it can also be found in various beauty products. The overall composition of royal jelly is 67% water, 12.5% crude protein (including small amounts of many different amino acids), and 11% simple sugars, also including a relatively high amount (5%) of fatty acids. It also contains many trace minerals, some enzymes, antibacterial and antibiotic components, and trace amounts of vitamin C. Contrary to claims by many of those promoting its use, vitamins A, D, and E are completely absent from royal jelly. Independent research has already disproved, or is needed to confirm or disprove, many of the purported health claims, such as reports of hormonal activity (unknown in the bees themselves; the most abundant sterol is cholesterol, which is not itself a hormone). To date, there is only preliminary evidence that it may have some cholesterol-lowering effects, as well as immunomodulatory, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing and antibiotic effects, though the last three of these effects are unlikely to be realized if ingested (digestion of the substances involved, or neutralization via changes in pH).

Literature
The short story Royal Jelly by Roald Dahl was published in the February 1983 issue of The Twilight Zone Magazine. This also became a Tale of the Unexpected.

Science Fiction
In the extended Alien universe, Royal Jelly is a highly addictive substance secreted by a queen Xenomorph and highly coveted by the Weyland-Yutani corporation, who use it to produce performance enhancing drugs.

In the comedy series Futurama, season 4, the Planet Express crew is sent to a space bee colony to collect space jelly. Leela takes royal jelly, and experiences hallucinations.

Video games
The computer game NetHack features royal jelly, which can be found littering the ground of bee hive rooms (which, obviously, contains large amounts of bees and one queen bee). Eating some increases the player's strength score.

In reference to this, the game Kingdom of Loathing also features royal jelly as a food in the area parodying NetHack, the Enormous Greater-Than Sign. Eating this royal jelly increases the player's muscle. Also, a familiar from the area will occasionally inject you with royal jelly after battles.

Also, the video game Ragnarok Online uses royal jelly as a superior way of healing both health points, SP points, and for curing all abnormal statuses afflicted on a player.

In Final Fantasy XI, royal jelly is a rare item obtained from certain bee-type enemies. It is used in quests and certain recipes.

In Secret of Mana, an item called Royal Jam is used to completely heal all hit points of the character on which it is used. The description for Royal Jam states: "Made from the royal jelly of the Buzz Bee queen, this tasty snack has magical properties. It replenishes the hit points of the one who eats it to its full capacity."

In the roguelike game Dungeon Crawl royal jelly is a food that, in addition to providing considerable nutrition, acts as a potion of restore abilities, restoring lost points of strength, dexterity, and intelligence.

In the RPG Paper Mario 2, Royal Jelly is an item bought in pots, and when eaten it replenishes 50 FP (Flower Points), allowing Mario and his companion to use special moves.