A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study of Pollen Loads Collected and Stored by Honeybees

Abstract

SummaryIt was observed that honeybees (Apis mellifera) frequently mixed pollen species in their corbicular pollen loads even when little competitive bloom was available. From the time the bees collected it, pollen was stored without visible evidence of damage or digestion of the grain walls; even the osmotic potential of the pollen membrane in the stored pollen (bee bread) was retained. Growth of fungi was inhibited in the stored pollen, but some other microorganisms multiplied.