Worker honey bees, Apis mellifera L., distinguish between their own and foreign queens on the basis of individual characteristics. An odoriferous characteristic, such as a shellac paint marking on the queen's thorax, is used by the workers to recognize their queen. However, a tactile physical characteristic of a queen, such as clipped wings, is apparently not used for recognition. Colony odors derived from the hive environment also may play a role in queen discrimination by honey bee swarms.