Bee pollen

Bee bread or bee pollen<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-wong-0">[1]</a> is a compound consisting of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen" title="Pollen">pollen</a> that has been packed by worker <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeybee" title="Honeybee" class="mw-redirect">honeybees</a> into granules called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_ball" title="Pollen ball">pollen balls</a>, with added <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey" title="Honey">honey</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectar" title="Nectar">nectar</a>. It is subsequently harvested from hives and used as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_supplement" title="Food supplement" class="mw-redirect">food supplement</a> by humans.

<h2>Production</h2>

Foraging bees bring pollen back to the hive and pass it off to another worker bee. This bee will pack the pollen into a cell with its head. During the packing, the pollen is mixed with nectar, enzymes, fungi and bacteria, organisms that transform the pollen into bee bread. The resulting material is higher in nutrition than the untreated pollen. Bee bread is the primary source of protein for the hive.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-1">[2]</a>

Like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_jelly" title="Royal jelly">royal jelly</a>, honey and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis" title="Propolis">propolis</a>, other well-known honey bee products, the exact chemical composition of pollen gathered depends on which plants the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_bee" title="Worker bee">worker bees</a> are gathering the pollen from, and can vary from hour to hour, day to day, week to week, colony to colony, even in the same <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apiary" title="Apiary">apiary</a>, and no two samples of bee bread will be exactly identical. Accordingly, chemical and nutritional analyses of bee bread 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 has been said to be 55% carbohydrates, 35% proteins, 3% minerals and vitamins, 2% fatty acids, and 5% of diverse other components.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-maggie-2">[3]</a>

A recent study of samples of bee bread showed they may contain 188 kinds of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus" title="Fungus">fungi</a> and 29 kinds of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria" title="Bacteria">bacteria</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-black-3">[4]</a> Bee bread is sometimes referred to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosia" title="Ambrosia">ambrosia</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

Bee bread is used in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturopathic_medicine" title="Naturopathic medicine" class="mw-redirect">naturopathic medicine</a> traditions and as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_supplement" title="Nutritional supplement" class="mw-redirect">nutritional supplement</a>, although exposure may trigger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersensitivity" title="Hypersensitivity">allergic</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylaxis" title="Anaphylaxis">anaphylactic</a> reactions in sensitive people.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_note-wong-0">[1]</a>

<h2>References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-wong-0">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-wong_0-0">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-wong_0-1">b</a> Wong, Cathy (February 2, 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsa1/a/Bee_Pollen.htm">"Bee Pollen"</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/About.com" title="About.com">about.com</a>. Retrieved 2009-01-20.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-1">^</a> Sammataro, Diana and Avitabile, Alphonse. (2011) The Beekeeper's Handbook. Cornell University Press. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0801476941" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn">ISBN 0-8014-7694-1</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-maggie-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-maggie_2-0">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.keeping-honey-bees.com/bee-bread.html">"What Is Bee Bread?"</a>. Keeping-honey-bees.com. September 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-black-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-black_3-0">^</a> Black, Jacquelyn G. (2004). Microbiology. John Wiley and Sons. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" title="International Standard Book Number">ISBN</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-471-42084-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-471-42084-0">0-471-42084-0</a>.</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_pollen#cite_ref-4">^</a> Oxford Canadian Dictionary</li>

</ol>