Bee Pollen

Bee pollen is a mixture of flower pollen, nectar, and bee saliva packed into the hive. It has roughly 250 substances, which are thought to work together. Bee pollen is also known as bee bread and ambrosia and is used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins, fatty acids, and a small percentage of other components.

Bee pollen is harvested as food for humans and marketed as having various health benefits. However, these benefits are yet unproven. Supplement use should be individualized and vetted by a healthcare professional.

People may use bee pollen for various reasons. A few studies suggested bee pollen may lower cholesterol levels. However, further well-designed clinical trials are needed. A small study assessed bee pollen combined with another bee product called propolis (bee glue). This combination might lower blood glucose (sugar) levels. It’s tough to understand bee pollen’s effects alone.

In honeybees (Apis species) pollen is stored in the chambers of the hives. It differs from field gathered pollen as honey bee secretions induce a fermentation process, where biochemical transformations break down the walls of flower pollen grains and render the nutrients more readily available.

Like honey and propolis, other well-known honey bee products that are gathered rather than secreted (i.e., in contrast to royal jelly and beeswax), the exact chemical composition depends on the plants from which the worker bees gather the pollen. Accordingly, chemical and nutritional analyses of bee pollen apply only to the specific samples being tested and cannot be extrapolated to samples gathered in other places or other times.