Bee pollen refers to the pollen grains that collect on the legs of worker
bees as they partake of the nectar produced by flowering plants. The pollen,
which is normally mixed with saliva and reserved nectar for the purpose of
feeding male drones, is transported back to the hive via specialized pockets
on the rear legs of the bees.
Making bee pollen, or bee bread as it’s sometimes called, is a laborious
task for the honeybee. In fact, it takes one worker bee about 240 hours
to collect enough pollen grains to make a single teaspoon of bee pollen
granules. Of course, the raw material is collected a little at a time
with each return to the hive.
Commercial beekeepers can successfully capture the pollen by placing
a mesh screen over the entrance to the hive so that as the bee enters, it brushes against the
screen that causes the specialized baskets that flank him on each side
to empty their contents onto the tray waiting below. The accumulated
pollen is then collected from trays that lie beneath the hive's entrance and compressed
into tablets or encapsulated.
Bee pollen contains an incredible amount of nutrition, even in small
doses. For one thing, a single tablespoon consists of up to 35% protein.
Bee pollen also contains many enzymes, nearly a dozen
carotenoids and a significant amount of amino acids, minerals and
vitamins B, C and E.
