Bee Pollen Basics: How to Tell If Your Colony Has Enough Pollen (and When to Feed)

I’m sure everyone is familiar with pollen, as what can cause seasonal allergies. Sneezing, watery and itchy eyes, and just feeling stuffy and miserable. Well, pollen is actually absolutely critical for honey bees survival.

Why bees need pollen

Nectar, from flowers, is a carbohydrate. Pollen is their protein. No one would feel very good if they only ate pasta, bread, and rice. Bees, like people, need protein, which they get from pollen. ​

Adult bees consume very little pollen, ​but brood requires quite a lot of it. When the bees are raising queens, they need more still. Lack of protein causes the queens raised during that time to be subpar. Pollen is used to make bee bread, which is fed to the larvae.

Pollen as hive health indicator

It is important to ensure bees are bringing in pollen if it is a time of the year that they should be raising brood. You can observe them flying into the hive when they have their pollen baskets full. When doing a hive inspection, check to see if there is much stored pollen.

How to stimulate brood production

You can stimulate early brood production by feeding a pollen substitute or pollen patty. Pollen substitutes should only be fed when they daytime temperatures are regularly above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and when there is enough food stores or supplemental feeding so the bees don’t starve while trying to feed their young.

Pollen substitutes

If natural pollen is available, this is superior and pollen should not be fed. When feeding patties, keep an eye out for small hive beatles, and their larvae, as they can destroy a hive. The patties tend to attract them, so feeding dry pollen substitute is an alternative if small hive beatles are a concern in your area.

Flower fidelity

Pollen is found in many different colors, each from different flowers. Because of something called flower fidelity (a bee will only visit a single type of flower in a given foraging trip) the pollen they bring back is from a single plant, and can be seen as it is stored in cells as the single color of pollen in that cell.

Watch for pollen

Sufficient pollen is critical for honey bee colony health, so keeping an eye on the incoming pollen is a metric if your colony’s health (when pollen is available.) Next time you’re near your hive, keep an eye out, to see if you see the bees bringing in pollen.