In honey bee colonies, the queen produces sterile offspring that protect the nest and forage for food. Assess how this altruistic behavior may have arisen through natural selection. Explain your answer in one to two sentences...
The sterile worker bees are closely related to the queen, sharing many of her genes. By helping the queen produce more offspring and ensuring the survival of the colony, the worker bees are still passing on some of their own genetic material, thus increasing the overall reproductive success of their genes, aiding in their own survival through natural selection.
use simpler terms
The worker bees help the queen because they are related to her and share similar genes. This behavior increases the chances of their genes being passed on, even though they cannot have their own offspring. This helps the worker bees survive and is favored by natural selection.
