Bee pollen
Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia,
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 themselves, since they stop producing the proteolytic enzymes necessary to digest it when they transition to foraging. The foragers unload the pollen they gather directly into open cells located at the interface between the brood and stored honey, creating a typical band of what is called bee bread – the substance which is the main food source for honeybee larvae and workers.
Foraging bees bring pollen back to the hive, where they pass it off to other worker bees, who pack the pollen into cells with their heads. During collection and possibly packing, the pollen is mixed with nectar and bee salivary secretions, signalling the start of the lactic fermentation process.[5] Bee pollen is the primary source of protein for the hive.[6]
Bees other than Apis typically form pollen into balls; these are primarily ground-nesting bees or twig-nesting bees, most of which are solitary, such as leafcutter bees.[7] With the leafcutter bee, as in most such bees, when the pollen ball is complete, the female lays an egg on top of the pollen ball, and seals the brood cell. The egg hatches and the larva consumes the pollen directly; the pollen is not stored separately from the brood.[8] This method of pollen usage can also be seen in the wood-nesting bee species Xylocopa sulcatipes[9] and Xylocopa sonorina.
Composition
Like honey and propolis, other well-known honeybee products that are gathered rather than secreted (i.e., in contrast to royal jelly and beeswax), the exact chemical composition depends on the plants from which the worker bees gather the pollen, and can vary from hour to hour, day to day, week to week, colony to colony, even in the same apiary, with no two samples of bee pollen being exactly identical. Accordingly, chemical and nutritional analyses of bee pollen apply only to the specific samples being tested and cannot be extrapolated to samples gathered in other places or other times.
Although there is no specific chemical composition, the average composition is said to be 40–60% simple sugars (fructose and glucose), 20–60% proteins, 3% minerals and vitamins, 1–32% fatty acids, and 5% diverse other components.[10][11] Bee bread is a niche for yeasts and bacteria, including lactic acid bacteria, Bifidobacterium, Bacillus spp., and others.[12][13][14] A study of bee pollen samples showed that they may contain 188 kinds of fungi and 29 kinds of bacteria.[15] Despite this microbial diversity, stored pollen is a preservation environment similar to honey, and contains consistently low microbial biomass.[16]
Use as a health supplement
Bee pollen has been touted by
Potential risks of consuming bee pollen include contamination by fungal mycotoxins, pesticides, or toxic metals.
Alternative diets for honeybees
There are several artificial pollen diets available for
References
- ^ Oxford Canadian Dictionary
- .
- ^ PMID 27013064.
- ISBN 978-90-8573-028-6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
- ^ Bogdanov, Stefan (2017) [2011]. "Chapter 2:Pollen: Nutrition, Functional Properties, Health". The Pollen Book. Vol. 2. Bee Product Science. pp. 1–31. Archived from the original on 2019-07-19. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
- ISBN 978-0-8014-8503-9. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
- ^ "Examination of "pollen Balls" in the nests of the Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee, Megachile rotundata". United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ Thorp, Robbin W. (5 March 2013). "Vernal pool flowers and their specialist bee pollinators". California Vernal Pools. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ Gerling, Dan; Hurd, Paul David; Hefetz, Abraham (1983). Comparative behavioral biology of two Middle East species of carpenter bees (Xylocopa Latreille)(Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. Smithsonian Institution Press.
- .
- ^ Staff writer (September 2011). "What Is Bee Bread?". Keeping-Honey-Bees.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
- S2CID 225208290.
- ISSN 0044-8435.
- ISSN 0044-8435.
- ISBN 978-0-471-42084-2.
- PMID 25319366.
- PMID 33670262.
- ^ a b "Bee Pollen Benefits and Side Effects". WebMD. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
after years of research, scientists still cannot confirm that bee pollen has any health benefits", "medical research has not shown that bee pollen is effective for any of these health concerns
- ^ "Public Notification: "Zi Xiu Tang Bee Pollen Capsules" Contains Hidden Drug Ingredient". Food and Drug Administration. October 24, 2012. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- ^ "FDA warns consumers not to use Zi Xiu Tang Bee Pollen capsules". Food and Drug Administration. April 7, 2014. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- ^ Jiang, Georgia (2021), Microalgae is the Bee's Knees, USDA Agricultural Research Service, retrieved 16 August 2021
External links
- Producing Pollen
- Xylocopa sonorina (Example bee)