Research published on June 3 in *Nature* challenges the traditional view that royal jelly is the sole factor in queen bee development. Scientists, led by Boris Baer from the University of California, Riverside, discovered that the wax in which queen bees develop has unique physical and chemical properties that significantly influence their growth. By comparing the wax from queen and worker cells, the team found that queen-cell wax is softer and chemically distinct, leading to higher survival rates for larvae raised in this environment. The study also highlighted the role of 'royal nurses,' which are specialized worker bees that construct queen cells with distinct behaviors and gene activity. Larvae in queen-cell wax developed into larger pupae resembling natural queens, while those in worker-cell wax fared poorly. This research indicates that bees actively engineer their queens, suggesting a more intricate division of labor within bee colonies than previously acknowledged. Future studies aim to explore how the wax environment affects queen development.