Bee Pollen

[Scythe13]

Just a quick question for all the bee people on here.

How easy is it to extract bee pollen? I ask this because bee pollen is super high in protein, which will be the hardest macro nutrient to get hold of in a major disaster situation.

Thanks for the help guys and gals.

[Skean Dhude]

It is dead easy. You can see the bees arriving at the hive laden with pollen ready to process. The bees put it in cells like they do with the honey. How much do you need though? It is harder to extract because it is in the brood frames and they start processing it pretty quick.

[T-oddity]

Pollen can be collected from the bees as they enter the hive by using special traps, quite a bit of a market for it though I've never done it myself as it does impact on the colony.

http://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=...len%20trap

The pollen that is stored in the comb is processed by the bees in to bee bread and is their source protein.

[Scythe13]

(2 June 2014, 16:39)Skean Dhude Wrote: It is dead easy. You can see the bees arriving at the hive laden with pollen ready to process. The bees put it in cells like they do with the honey. How much do you need though? It is harder to extract because it is in the brood frames and they start processing it pretty quick.

As much as possible really mate. Because of the high protein content, it would be a pretty good substitute for a lot of meat based products, even a temporary substitute for eggs, if there's enough of it available that can be taken without damaging the hive/colony.