The core question of whether bees make pollen or merely collect it can be answered directly: bees do not produce pollen; they only gather it from plants. Pollen is a fine, powdery substance that flowering plants and cone-bearing plants create exclusively for their own reproductive cycle. The bee acts as a highly specialized vehicle for this substance, collecting it for its own purposes, which secondarily benefits the plant.
Where Pollen Comes From
Pollen is the plant kingdom’s method for transporting the male genetic material necessary for reproduction. It is produced within the anthers, which are the male structures found at the tip of the stamen in a flower. Each microscopic pollen grain is essentially a reduced male gametophyte, containing the cells that will ultimately form the sperm needed for fertilization.
Pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma, the receptive female part of the flower, a process called pollination. This transfer enables the plant to produce seeds and fruits. Plants produce vast quantities of pollen to increase the odds that at least some grains will successfully reach another flower, often relying on wind, water, or animals like bees for transport.
How Bees Collect and Transport Pollen
A foraging bee’s body is well-adapted for collecting the pollen it encounters on a flower. As a bee flies, the friction of the air causes its fuzzy body to build up a positive electrostatic charge. When the bee lands on a flower, the negatively charged pollen particles are naturally attracted to and stick to the bee’s branched, feather-like body hairs, known as plumose hairs.
The bee then meticulously grooms itself, using its legs to brush the collected pollen from its head, thorax, and abdomen. For species like the honey bee and bumble bee, the pollen is then packed into specialized structures on the hind legs called corbiculae, or pollen baskets. The bee moistens the pollen with a small amount of nectar or honey and saliva to create compact, cohesive pellets that are securely held in the concave area of the corbiculae for the flight back to the hive.
Other bee species, such as leafcutter bees, use a different mechanism, possessing dense, stiff hairs called scopa on the underside of their abdomen to carry pollen. Regardless of the structure used for transport, the bee is capable of carrying a significant load, sometimes nearly half its own body weight, back to the colony.
Why Pollen is Essential for Bee Survival
Pollen is the primary source of protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals for the colony. While the nectar they collect provides the necessary carbohydrates for energy, pollen supplies the amino acids required for growth. Bees require a diet containing a minimum of 20 to 25 percent crude protein for optimal health.
Once the forager bee returns to the hive, the pollen pellets are deposited into honeycomb cells near the developing brood. Worker bees then process this raw pollen by mixing it with nectar, honey, and glandular secretions. This mixture is called “bee bread,” and the process causes the pollen to undergo a type of fermentation that improves its digestibility and preservation.
Nurse bees, which are young workers, consume bee bread to produce royal jelly, a substance fed to the queen and young larvae. The availability of high-protein bee bread is directly linked to the colony’s ability to successfully rear new generations and ensures the overall health and growth of the hive.
The Ecological Role of Pollination
The bee’s act of foraging for food has an unintentional external consequence: pollination. As the bee moves from flower to flower, some of the fine grains inevitably rub off its body onto the stigma of the next flower it visits. This accidental transfer facilitates the plant’s fertilization and the production of seeds, fruits, and vegetables.
Bees are among the most effective pollinators, contributing to the reproduction of a majority of the world’s flowering plants. This ecological service ensures the growth of plants that provide habitat and food for countless other species. Furthermore, it is estimated that bees are responsible for pollinating around 35 percent of the world’s food crops, a process that is integral to global food security and biodiversity.