Beebread

flower pollen of plants that bees gather, pack into honeycomb cells, and cover with honey. The upper layer of pollen, saturated with honey, is impervious to air. In such anaerobic conditions under the influence of enzymes, bacteria, and yeast fungi, lactic acid in the cells increases. This preserves the mixture of pollen and honey and converts it to beebread. Bee-bread contains 13–40 percent protein and 25–70 percent sugars, as well as fats, mineral salts, vitamins, enzymes, and hormones.

Beebread is a valuable protein-carbohydrate food for bees. Bees consume especially large amounts of beebread in the spring during the growth period of the bee colony. The absence of beebread in spring retards development of bee colonies and may decrease the honey yield.