Bee bread is a highly nutritional derivative, made from pollen by bees. Scientists have understood for some time that worker bees who have just emerged from the comb must eat bee bread so that their glands produce food for the queen and developing larvae. However, older worker bees get by on honey alone. So scientists suspected that bee bread must have a higher nutritional value than honey. Western honey bee collecting pollenNow, after painstaking work, researchers have learned how bee bread is made. Even as bees collect the pollen, they begin to work on the recipe. They add secretions from special glands, as well as microorganisms that produce enzymes which release a number of important nutrients from the pollen. Other microbes are added to produce antibiotics and fatty acids to prevent spoilage. At the same time, unwanted microbes are removed, and the bees add honey or nectar to the bread to get it to stick together.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 20:57:03 +0000
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