Effect of the Age of Pollen Used in Pollen Supplements on Their Nutritive Value for the Honeybee. II. Effect of Vitamin Content of Pollens

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The pollens used in nutritional studies by Hagedorn and Moeller (1968) were analysed for niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, thiamine and ascorbic acid, and the results compared with those of the nutritional studies. The ascorbic acid content decreased with the age of the pollen, as did the pollen's effectiveness for brood rearing, hypopharyngeal gland development and rate of growth of honeybees. The pantothenic acid content of pollen one or two years old was higher if the pollen had been dried than if it had been frozen; this is thought to explain the faster growth of bees fed on supplements containing the dried pollen. The folic acid content of fresh pollen was twice as high as previously reported.