Bees collect and use pollen for various purposes, including as a source of protein and other nutrients for the colony. Here is what bees do with pollen:

• Source of protein: Pollen is the honey bees main source of protein and is vital to brood production and the development of young bees. Without protein, no young bees could be raised, and the colony would eventually die.

• Source of other nutrients: Pollen also provides fats/lipids, minerals, and vitamins.

• Bee bread: Bees collect pollen from flowers and mix it with nectar or honey and a little saliva as they go along, then carry it back to the hive and deposit it in cells next to the developing baby bees, called larvae. This stored pollen, known as bee bread, is the colonys main source of protein.

• Conditioning: Once pollen is brought back to the colony, the workers condition it by adding glandular secretions containing enzymes and acids that prevent spoilage and degradation in nutritional value.

Bees collect pollen by visiting flowers and transferring pollen from the stamen of a flower to the stigma (female part) of the same or different flowers. They carry the pollen back to the hive on their hind legs in neat little balls.