If indeed workers do serve a large colony in order to win prestige and acquire rank, there must be a mechanism that demonstrates each individual's ability reliably.

The mechanism that seems likeliest to us is pheromones. ...It is known that the pheromone secreted by the queen motivates workers to serve her. Bees are very eager for the pheromone and lick it off the body of the queen. Workers can get the pheromone directly from the body of the queen when they serve her, or indirectly, from workers who have served the queen.

from The Handicap Principle by Zahavi and Zahavi.

So, does this sound like advogato? Is it a coincidence?