a pheromone secreted by queen honeybees and consumed by the workers, in whom it causes suppression of egg-laying
queen substance in American English
noun
a pheromone secreted from the mandibular glands of a queen honeybee and smelled, eaten, and absorbed by the worker bees, having the effect of preventing them from producing or rearing rival queens
Word origin
[1950–55]This word is first recorded in the period 1950–55. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Common Market, bleep, conflict of interest, drip-dry, point-of-sale