Queen bee

Ball of pollen gathered by worker honeybees

Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia,^[1] is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins, fatty acids, and a small percentage of other components. Bee pollen is stored in brood cells, mixed with saliva, and sealed with a drop of honey.^[2] Bee pollen is harvested as food for humans and marketed as having various, but yet unproven, health benefits.^[3]

Details

In honeybees (Apis species) pollen is stored in the chambers of the hives. It differs from field-gathered pollen as honeybee secretions induce a fermentation process, where biochemical transformations break down the walls of flower pollen grains and render the nutrients more readily available.^[4]

Forager bees that gather pollen do not eat it themse Pollen d abeille biography images.