What was that magical mystery DNA?
A ten-point sweep to commentator Formicidae Fantasy, whose rapid series of answers was spot-on:
It’s from Apis dorsata…
And I believe that it determines sex, so that homogeneous individuals will be male.
And apparently males produced this way get eaten before maturity!
That’s exactly right.
Here’s a BBC video of our favorite narrator hanging out (literally) with Apis dorsata:
These bee nests are very common where I come from. Apis dorsata tends to be prominent during the mast flowering season.
They are indeed the largest bees in the world, and there is a special procedure to gather their honey…..