Substantial variation in larval honey bee nutrition within and among <em>Apis mellifera</em> colonies

Parents have evolved strategies to reduce the risk of malnutrition in offspring, including the production&nbsp; of specialized nutritional secretions that are tailored to meet the unique needs of developing offspring. Studies in vertebrates, however, show abundant individual variation in nutritional secretions; the causes and consequences of this variation, and the extent to which such patterns can be generalized beyond vertebrates, remain unclear. Here, we investigated natural variation in nutritional secretions in an invertebrate species, the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). This is a unique bee wherein developing larvae subsist entirely on “jellies” (e.g., royal jelly) produced by glands in adult worker bees. We assess within- and among-colony variation in the macronutrient content of the secretions fed to female worker larvae (“worker jelly”), collected from individual larval honeycomb cells. Although female workers make up the largest demographic inside a honey bee colony, ve..., , # Substantial variation in larval honey bee nutrition within and among *Apis mellifera* colonies Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zpw](10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zpw) ## Description of the data and file structure These data were used to generate the paper titled, \"Substantial variation in larval honey bee nutrition within and among *Apis mellifera* colonies.\" Detailed methods can be found in the body of the manuscript. ### Files and variables #### File: WorkerJelly2025_Data.csv **Description:** This is the primary dataset that was used to generate all statistical analyses and figures in the main body of the manuscript, as well as most of the supplemental figures. ##### Variables * Hive: A unique identifier of the colony the worker jelly was sourced from * Colony: A separate unique identifier of the colony that specifies colony aggression level and is ordered by sample collection date * ExtractionDate: The calendar date the worker jelly sample was collected * Day: Notes the day within ...,