Editing Bee pollen (section)

==Composition==
Like [[honey]] and [[propolis]], other well-known honeybee products that are gathered rather than secreted (i.e., in contrast to [[royal jelly]] and [[beeswax]]), the exact chemical composition depends on the plants from which the [[worker bee]]s gather the pollen, and can vary from hour to hour, day to day, week to week, colony to colony, even in the same [[apiary]], with no two samples of bee pollen being exactly identical. Accordingly, chemical and nutritional analyses of bee pollen apply only to the specific samples being tested and cannot be extrapolated to samples gathered in other places or other times.

Although there is no specific chemical composition, the average composition is said to be 40–60% simple sugars (fructose and glucose), 20–60% proteins, 3% minerals and vitamins, 1–32% fatty acids, and 5% diverse other components.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Botanical Origin and Nutritional Values of Bee Bread of Stingless Bee (''Heterotrigona itama'') from Malaysia|last1=Mohammad|first1=Salma Malihah|last2=Mahmud-Ab-Rashid|first2=Nor-Khaizura|date=2020|journal=Journal of Food Quality|doi=10.1155/2020/2845757|last3=Zawawi|first3=Norhasnida|volume=2020|pages=1–12|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=maggie>{{cite web |url=http://www.keeping-honey-bees.com/bee-bread.html |title=What Is Bee Bread? |author=Staff writer |date=September 2011 |website=Keeping-Honey-Bees.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711070205/http://www.keeping-honey-bees.com/bee-bread.html |archive-date=2016-07-11 |url-status=dead |access-date=2011-10-07}}</ref> Bee bread is a niche for yeasts and bacteria, including [[lactic acid bacteria]], ''[[Bifidobacterium]]'', ''[[Bacillus]]'' spp., and others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mohammad|first1=Salma Malihah|last2=Mahmud-Ab-Rashid|first2=Nor-Khaizura |last3=Zawawi |first3=Norhasnida |date=2020-08-25 |title=Probiotic properties of bacteria isolated from bee bread of stingless bee ''Heterotrigona itama'' |journal=Journal of Apicultural Research |volume=60|pages=172–187 |doi=10.1080/00218839.2020.1801152 |s2cid=225208290|issn=0021-8839|url=http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/87300/1/Probiotic%20properties%20of%20bacteria%20isolated%20from%20bee%20bread.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gilliam |first=Martha |title=Microbiology of Pollen and Bee Bread: The Genus ''Bacillus'' |date=1979 |journal=Apidologie |volume=10 | issue=3| pages=269–274| doi=10.1051/apido:19790304 |issn=0044-8435|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gilliam |first=Martha |title=Microbiology of Pollen and Bee Bread: The Yeasts |date=1979 |journal=Apidologie |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=43–53 |doi=10.1051/apido:19790106 |issn=0044-8435 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A study of bee pollen samples showed that they may contain 188 kinds of [[fungus|fungi]] and 29 kinds of [[bacteria]].<ref name=black>{{cite book|title=Microbiology|last=Black|first=Jacquelyn G.|year=2004|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-471-42084-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/microbiology00jacq}}</ref> Despite this microbial diversity, stored pollen is a preservation environment similar to honey, and contains consistently low microbial biomass.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Kirk E. |last2=Carroll |first2=Mark J. |last3=Sheehan |first3=Tim |last4=Lanan |first4=Michele C. |last5=Mott |first5=Brendon M. |last6=Maes |first6=Patrick |last7=Corby-Harris |first7=Vanessa |date=5 November 2014 |title=Hive-stored pollen of honey bees: many lines of evidence are consistent with pollen preservation, not nutrient conversion |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=23 |issue=23 |pages=5904–5917 |doi=10.1111/mec.12966 |pmc=4285803 |pmid=25319366|bibcode=2014MolEc..23.5904A }}</ref>