Bees Collecting Pollen for Royal Jelly Production

Honeybees will forage for the most nutritious pollen with the highest protein content and store it in the combs. It is fed and eaten by the bees as a requirement to produce royal jelly in the head glands of young workers.

Royal jelly is eaten by all bees in varying degrees and is essentially the “currency” of the hive. Without adequate protein, young workers will not be able to make enough royal jelly to fed the young larvae to develop into “fat” bees. Bees without enough body fat cannot make abundant royal jelly. The saying goes, “skinny bees make skinny bees”

Bee bread is actually pollen stored with some honey added that is fermented by LAB (lactic acid bacteria) that partially breaks down the pollen cell walls rendering the pollen more digestible. Think yogurt and other fermented foods. It keeps well too.