What is bee pollen and does it cause hayfever?

Airborne pollen, notorious for causing hayfever (pollen allergies), is not the same as bee pollen. Both come from plants, but the former is lightweight and comes from plants that rely upon the wind to transfer their pollen from male plants to female plants. The pollen can come from grasses, trees and flowering plants, with common examples including ragweed and hickory.

So what is bee pollen? Why, pollen collected by bees, of course. More specifically, plants that are pollinated by bees and other creatures produce a pollen that is heavier and stickier (and thus not airborne), and more nutritional. Typically, plants that rely upon pollinators produce flowers with attractive scents, colour and nectar. This pollen does not induce hayfever reactions.

Bees collect pollen for use as food for themselves and their young, hence bee pollen is also known as bee bread. As can be seen from a general chemical analysis of bee pollen, it is a nutrient-dense substance. Exact components, in truth, depend upon the plant source.

Pollen Collection: Bees

Bees either collect pollen deliberately, or do so in the process of collecting nectar. Researchers have discovered that bees carry an electrostatic charge. As they hover around flowers, their bodies attract negatively charged pollen, which sticks to their often hairy bodies.

Bees that are active pollen collectors have one of a variety of structures on their bodies designed to house the pollen. Movement of pollen into these structures involves the bee grooming itself and packing the grains into the space. Honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless and orchid bees have corbicula, commonly referred to as 'pollen baskets' or 'pollen sacs'. These are located on the hind legs and you can often see large coloured balls on the 'knees' of foraging bees. The colour, like the nutrient content, is dependent on the source of the pollen. Most bees have a scopa on their hind legs, which is less a basket or sac than a mass of hairs that keep stored pollen in place. Some bees have this mass of hairs on their abdomen.

To get the pollen into the corbicula or scopa, the bee uses her proboscis to moisten her legs with honey or nectar. Pollen from the body is combed and pressed into the collector structure, staying moist and compact thanks to the nectar.

Pollen Collection: Beekeepers

Pollen is typically collected from honeybees, as beekeepers set up structured hives that are 'user-friendly'. Normally, when a bee returns to the hive, she will unload and store her pollen within cells of the comb for future use feeding larvae among other things. A beekeeper can place a screen at the entrance to the hive that restricts the opening to the size of a bee's body. Because the pollen baskets are quite large when full, they are compressed when the bee enters the new opening. The clumps of compacted pollen are squeezed out and drop into a collector tray. Bee pollen granules can be frozen or dehydrated.

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