Honey bees provision glandular secretions in the form of royal jelly as larval 
nourishment to developing queens. Exposure to chemicals and nutritional 
conditions can influence queen development and thus impact colony fitness. 
Previous research reports that royal jelly remains pesticide-free during 
colony-level exposure and that chemical residues are buffered by the nurse bees. 
However, the impacts of pesticides can also manifest in quality and quantity of 
royal jelly produced by nurse bees. Here, we tested how colony exposure to a 
multi-pesticide pollen treatment influences the amount of royal jelly 
provisioned per queen and the additional impacts on royal jelly nutritional 
quality. We observed differences in the metabolome, proteome, and phytosterol 
compositions of royal jelly synthesized by nurse bees from multi-pesticide 
exposed colonies, including significant reductions of key nutrients such as 
24-methylenecholesterol, major royal jelly proteins, and 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic 
acid. Additionally, quantity of royal jelly provisioned per queen was lower in 
colonies exposed to pesticides, but this effect was colony-dependent. Pesticide 
treatment had a greater impact on royal jelly nutritional composition than the 
weight of royal jelly provisioned per queen cell. These novel findings highlight 
the indirect effects of pesticide exposure on queen developmental nutrition and 
allude to social consequences of nurse bee glandular degeneration.