POLLEN

Pollen is the main source of protein bees feed their sapling.

The small grains of pollen are masculine vegetal cells with the function of multiplying plants. Bees collect it by visiting the flowers. The microscopical granules of pollen stick to the small hair on the body of bees which the bee combs turning it into small “crumpled paper” storing it into the small baskets on their feet and carrying it to the beehive to feed the sapling.

The small grains of pollen have got different colours and shapes according to the species of plant, for instance: light yellow to hazelnut tree, dark yellow to snap dragon, citron yellow to rapeseed, greenish to maple tree, blue to facelie (a plant called like that), light grey to elm tree and almost black to poppy.
The size and the weight of the small grains of pollen can be extremely different according to the species of the plant, the duration of the harvest and the distance to the flower-source.

The pollen that we find in commerce is the one bees bring home, but which at the bee entrance, the beekeeper put a collector of pollen which has a bar through which bees can pass only if they download the small baskets with grains. The small grains fall into a collecting box out of which the beekeeper collects the pollen which he/she dries or freezes.
The pollen they enter the beehive with is stored in honeycombs and as food for winter. For storing, the bees push the content of the small baskets in the cells of honeycombs with their feet, then they tread it with their head. They cover it with a layer of honey so that it should not go bad. The different types of pollen are stored in cells one above another. The pollen thus stored “ferments” giving birth to what we call bee bread.
PhD Engineer: Cornelia Dostetan (Abalaru)