Pollen is possibly one of the best known of natural products and is
either blessed or cursed by people depending on whether it is pro-
viding a living for them, curing them or killinf them. It is of course
the male reproductive cell produced by the anthers of a flower to
carry the male gamete to the stigma of a receptive female flower.
It is of extreme importance to bees and they have been intimately
associated with pollen in an evolutionary relationship for around
90 million years, when the hunting wasp ancestor of the honey
bee went vegetarian.
Because of the very diverse floral sources of bee collected pollen
it is very difficult to determine exactly a typical pollen compo-
sition. Generally however, pollen consists of around 25% protein,
27% carbohydrates (mainly simple sugars much of which is added
by the bee in the form of nectar or honey used either to bind the
pollen pellet together for transport, or to better store the pollen in
a cell); 5% fat and up to 18% starch (especially grass pollens).
Pollen supplies the colony with all its nutritional requirements for
brood rearing and many a bee farmer finds himself in difficulties
if there is a dearth. Without sufficient pollen a colony will not
thrive and will eventually cease to exist. Humans too are increas-
ingly taking to consuming this nutritious food and even though
not the 'perfect' food as so many claim. It is a rich source of
many vitamins (especially the B vitamins) and minerals, notably
iron, zinc, manganese and copper. Pollen is deficient in the
lipid soluble vitsmins but otherwise, in many ways surpasses
in nutritive value almost any other food commonly eaten. Pollen
does contain a relatively large amount of indigestible material.
The intine and exine are hard protective covering walls pro-
tecting the cytoplasm. At one time it was thought that humans
could not digest pollen, but in 1983 and 1984, it was shown that
in rats and mice that once pollen is in the digestive system,
osmotic shock ruptures the pollen grains at the germination pores
and allows digestion to take place. This was followed up by tests
on humans in 1987. In data collected in 1975, the nitritive values
per thousand kilocalories of certain common food were compared
to those of pollen with the following results:
Protein Fat
Baked beans: 59.4g 82.7g
Whole wheat bread: 43.2g 12.3g
Beef Sirloin: 59.4g 82.7g
Apple: 3.4g 10.3g
Raw cabbage: 54.1g 8.3g
POLLEN: 96.3g 19.5g
Bee collected pollen consists of a large blend of pollen grains from
many different sources. Few of these sources have the same nutri-
tional blends and can vary widely in this respect. Colonies require
large amounts of pollen and by consuming a mixture of types;
bees ensure a better nutritional balance and are better able to dilute
potentially toxic alkaloids or other toxins. Tests show that bees
prefer mixed pollen doets.
Although pollen is such a vital nutritional resource for honey bees,
the influence of pollen quality on their foraging behaviour is little
understood. Honey bee foraging preferences appear to reflect
pollen quality.
Many beekeepers specialise in the collection of pollen as their
major hive crop and world trade in pollen shows that the major
producers are the USA, China, Australia, Spain, Mexico and
Argentina. Most of the product is for human consumption with a
secondary role in animal feeds, Other bee farmers specialise in
pollination services usually without taking the pollen as a crop and
taking honey as a secondary crop.

Source: Apis-UK July 2005.