Fatty acids in pollen: a review of their importance for honey bees

ROB MANNING

Plant pollens have distinctive fatty acid profiles; some are characteristically dominant in one or more fatty acids. Pollens with high lipid concentrations and dominated by linoleic, linolenic, myristic and dodecanoic acids probably play a significant role in inhibiting the growth of the spore-forming bacteria, Paenibacillus(American foulbrood), Melissococcus pluton (Europeanlarvae larvae foulbrood) and other microbes that inhabit the brood combs of beehives. Those pollens high in oleic and palmitic acids probably have a greater role in honey bee nutrition.