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

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 larvae larvae (American foulbrood), Melissococcus pluton (European 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.