Editing Worker bee (section)

== Genetic characteristics ==
In most common bee species, worker bees are infertile due to enforced altruistic [[kin selection]],<ref name=Ratnieks2009>{{Cite journal | last1 = Ratnieks | first1 = F. L. W. | last2 = Helantera | first2 = H. | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2009.0129 | title = The evolution of extreme altruism and inequality in insect societies | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 364 | issue = 1533 | pages = 3169–79 | year = 2009 | pmid =  19805425| pmc = 2781879}}</ref> and thus never reproduce. Workers are nevertheless considered female for anatomical and genetic reasons. Genetically, a worker bee does not differ from a queen bee and can even become a [[laying worker bee]], but in most species will produce only male (drone) offspring. Whether a larva becomes a worker or a queen depends on the kind of food it is given after the first three days of its larval form.