英语听力文摘 English Digest 403、神奇的蜂王浆（在线收听）

The Royal Jelly
神奇的蜂王浆

According to legend, King Arthur gained the crown by pulling a sword from a rock. Queen honeybees have an equally enchanting way of ascending to the throne. Introducing… the Royal Jelly!

This special jelly is made of water, proteins, fatty acids, organic acids, vitamins and minerals. These substances are mixed with bee milk, a liquid produced by young worker bees.

When the reining queen begins to show signs of old age, worker bees select her successors from among the developing queen bee larvae.

Although all baby bees are fed royal jelly at first, queen bee larvae receive extra helpings and continue to be fed the rich food longer than regular larvae. The jelly fed to developing queens is also packed with higher concentrations of sugar and various proteins.

The results are spectacular. Thanks to their super-nutritious diet, queen bees grow up to one and a half times larger than regular bees, live forty times longer than normal bees, and lay up to two thousand eggs per day.

Inevitably, entrepreneurs have attempted to capitalize on royal jelly by creating jelly-infused dietary supplements that supposedly make people stronger and more virile. But don’t go spreading royal jelly on your toast just yet.

Although it does the trick for bees, there’s no solid proof that the stuff will make you king or queen for even a day.

据说，亚瑟王当年从岩石里拔出一把剑就得到了王位。蜂王也是通过类似的方式登上王位的。那就是蜂王浆。

这是一种特别的粘稠浆状物，由水分，蛋白质，脂肪酸，有机酸，维生素和矿物质组成。这些物质与王浆混合在一起，王浆是一种由年轻的工蜂产生的液体。

到了当权蜂王开始衰老的时候，工蜂们就会从蜂王幼虫中挑选出继任者。

虽然刚开始所有的蜜蜂宝宝都是吃的蜂王浆，但比起普通的幼虫，蜂王幼虫会得到额外的关注，并且会一直有丰富的食物。蜂王吃的东西含有更多的糖类和各种维生素。

结果非常惊人。由于超有营养的饮食，蜂王长大后的身体比工蜂长1/3，寿命是工蜂的40倍，每天产卵2000个左右。

必然地，企业家们试图利用蜂王浆牟利。他们大量制作注入浆状物的营养保健品，大概能使人的身体更强壮和更有男子气概。但别马上把蜂王浆涂到烤面包上。

尽管它对蜜蜂管用，但并没有确凿的证据证明它能够让你成为哪怕一天的国王或女王。