The ladies are bringing in pollen!! This is awesome!
Pollen is the main protein source for the honeybee and is used to feed the new bees as they grow.
Protein content can range from 8-40% and an average colony can harvest anywhere from 40 - 110 lbs in a season!
As you can see below - this little girl has stuffed her leg baskets full of pollen. She will fill these up until they weigh about 100 mg or close to half of her own body weight!
Once she gets to the hive- she will unload her baskets near the 🐛 and the house bees will then pack them into cells - equaling about 18 loads of pollen.
To prevent it from spoiling, the house bees will add a little honey from their honey stomachs and mix this with the pollen. Over time this pollen will convert into bee bread and will be fed to the 🐛 and young 🐝 🐝.
Pollen is a must for larvae and the new bees. It is essential that they receive the proper minerals and vitamins in their first two weeks in order for them to develop properly. Unfortunately the girls -yes it’s only the girls that do the grocery shopping- can’t tell which pollen are the best or which ones have been treated with pesticide- they bring it all back to the hive. Our best way to help them along is to plant a variety of plants in our gardens and not use pesticides.