Honeybee Pollen Research Articles

Honeybee colonies provide foragers with costly fuel to promote pollen collection.

Honeybee pollen foragers departing the hive carry concentrated nectar to use as fuel for flight and glue for forming pollen loads. Since nectar is concentrated by in-hive bees at the cost of time and energy, using concentrated nectar increases the cost of foraging at the colony level. This experimental study explored the potential benefit to honeybees of using concentrated nectar for pollen collection by diluting nectar carried by pollen foragers from the hive. Mass feeding with 30% sugar solution successfully reduced the crop-load-sugar concentration in putative pollen foragers departing the hive, but while those bees tended to increase the crop-load volume, such increase did not fully compensate for the decreased amount of dissolved sugars in the crop load. Feeding 30% sugar solution reduced the pollen load dry weight by approx. 10-20% compared to the unfed control and to another test group fed 60% sugar solution. In addition, the pollen load size and sugar concentration of crop load remaining in returning pollen foragers was positively correlated. These results clearly show the advantage to honeybees of using concentrated nectar for pollen foraging.

Selection for larger body size in Orius laevigatus: Intraspecific variability and effects on reproductive parameters

Different characters of natural enemies can affect their performance in biological control programs. Among them, body size may play a significant role, as has been associated with increased fitness. No specific studies on body size have been carried out in any Orius species, important predators widely used in biological control. Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the variation in body size in wild and commercial populations of O. laevigatus, and artificially select a strain with larger body size. The parameters of the life table of populations showing different body sizes was investigated. We found a significant variability in body size among wild populations of O. laevigatus, with commercial populations within the natural range. From this variation we started a selective breeding programme for larger body size, successfully obtaining a strain with a significant larger body size. Our selected strain showed higher fecundity when provided a nutritionally superior food (Ephestia kuehniella eggs), and increased fecundity and longevity when fed a nutritionally inferior food (honey bee pollen). Despite a slightly slower development time, the overall reproductive potential was similar or superior to that of the commercial and unselected populations. We hypothesize that the enhanced characteristics of the selected large strain are based on a superior ability to exploit nutritional resources, conferring stronger resilience under stresses (low food quality or quantity) typically found in agricultural ecosystems, improving its performance as biological control agent.

Macro- and trace elements content in honeybee pollen loads in relation to the harvest season.

The content of macro-and trace elements in honeybee pollen loads collected from the Al-Ahsa oasis, Saudi Arabia during spring, summer, autumn, and winter in 2018/2019 were determined. After critical screening and observation, we found that the major pollen floral resources were rapeseed, sunflower, summer squash, and date palm. The highest values of sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P) and manganese (Mn) were found in pollen loads trapped during spring and winter. The highest levels of copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) were found from pollen loads harvested during autumn, while the highest content of zinc (Zn) was found in pollen loads collected during the summer. Higher concentrations of the essential elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg and P) for human nutrition found in pollen loads collected during the spring and winter seasons, make them valuable food supplements. Finally, the elements contained in pollen loads can be related to the season of pollen load collection.

Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidea) Pollen Forage in a Highly Cultivated Agroecosystem: Limited Diet Diversity and Its Relationship to Virus Resistance

Intensified agriculture reduces natural and seminatural habitats and plant diversity, reducing forage available to honey bees (Apis mellifera L. [Hymenoptera: Apidea]). In agricultural landscapes of Iowa, United States, we studied the impact of extrinsic agricultural intensification on the availability of pollen for honey bees by placing colonies next to soybean fields surrounded by either a low or high level of cultivation. The abundance and diversity of pollen returned to a colony were estimated by placing pollen traps on bee colonies during the summer and fall of 2015 and 2016. We observed no difference in abundance and diversity of pollen collected by colonies in either landscape, but abundance varied over time with significantly less collected in September. We explored if the most commonly collected pollen from these landscapes had the capacity to support honey bee immune health by testing if diets consisting of these pollens improved bee resistance to a viral infection. Compared to bees denied pollen, a mixture of pollen from the two most common plant taxa (Trifolium spp. L. [Fabales: Fabaceae] and Chimaechrista fasciculata (Michx.) Greene [Fabales: Fabaceae]) significantly reduced honey bee mortality induced by viral infection. These data suggest that a community of a few common plants was favored by honey bees, and when available, could be valuable for reducing mortality from a viral infection. Our data suggest a late season shortage of pollen may be ameliorated by additions of fall flowering plants, like goldenrod (Solidago spp. L. [Asterales: Asteraceae]) and sunflower (Helianthus, Heliopsis, and Silphium spp. [Asterales: Asteraceae]), as options for enhancing pollen availability and quality for honey bees in agricultural landscapes.

The Inclusion of a Supercritical Fluid Extract, Obtained From Honey Bee Pollen, in the Diet of Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata), Improves Fish Immune Response by Enhancing Anti-oxidant, and Anti-bacterial Activities

In the present study, the immune-stimulatory effect of two levels of honey bee pollen (5 and 10%, P5 and P10 treatment, respectively) and its supercritical fluid extract (0. 5 and 1%, E0.5 and E1, respectively) included in the diet, was tested in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). The in vivo trial was preceded by the evaluation of antioxidant properties of three different bee pollen extracts obtained by water, ethanol 80%, and Supercritic Fluids Extraction (SFE). The preliminary evaluation attested that the SFE showed the lowest extraction yield (10.47%) compared to ethanol 80% (48.61%) and water (45.99%). SFE extract showed good antioxidant properties with high polyphenol content (13.06 mg GAE/g), radical scavenging activity (3.12 mg/ml), reducing power (38.68 mg/mL EC50). On the contrary, the water extract showed the significantly lowest polyphenol content (2 mg GAE/g; P < 0.05). The results of in vivo trial demonstrate that the diets supplemented with SFE bee pollen extract had a stimulatory effect on fish serum immunity, respect to the inclusion of raw pollen, this latter revealing some inhibitory effects in the immune response, such a decrease of serum peroxidase and lysozyme activities, particularly in P10 group significantly different (P < 0.05) from the control group. On the contrary, serum peroxidase, protease, antiprotease, were significantly increased in fish fed the diets supplemented with supercritical fluid extract, respect to the fish fed on control and on diets supplemented with 5 and 10% of raw pollen. For what concerns the bactericidal activity against Vibrio harveyii, all the treatments containing bee pollen regardless of the type showed their serum bactericidal activity significantly increased with respect to the control groups (p < 0.05). Given its high antioxidant properties, the absence of toxic solvents and the positive action carried out on improving the humoral response in gilthead seam bream, honey bee pollen SFE extract can be taken into account in the formulation of fish feeds.

Chemical and cytological evaluation of honeybee pollen antioxidant ability.

The crude flavonoid extract of pollen (CFP) of four species of honeybee pollens were extracted with ethanol, and the total flavonoid contents ranged from 3.4 to 14.5mg rutin/g dry weight. The antioxidant activities of the CFPs were evaluated from both chemical and cytological aspects. Comprehensive antioxidant scores were determined based on these two evaluation systems. The results showed that canola CFP had the highest antioxidant capacity among the four CFPs. A cytotoxicity assay was conducted to assess the safety threshold of the CFPs, and canola CFP was proved to be the least toxic to vascular endothelial cell. Of the four tested CFPs, this research suggests that canola CFP is the most promising natural antioxidant. In addition, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis detected seven flavonoid glycosides in the hydrolysates of the four CFPs. Among them, quercetin and kaempferol were present in all four honeybee pollen extracts, but there were significant differences between their contents. A correlation analysis revealed a strong correlation between the content of quercetin in the pollen extract and the extract's antioxidant activity. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Many varieties of honeybee pollen are commercially available. The results of this study help guide consumers to choose honeybee pollens that have a better antioxidant effect. This report can also provide guidance and data in support of the development of honeybee pollen health products.

Honey Bee Pollen in Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) Juvenile Diets: Effects on Growth, Diet Digestibility, Intestinal Traits, and Biochemical Markers Related to Health and Stress.

Simple SummaryRecently, several studies have focused on the use of nutraceuticals and honey bee products to improve the welfare and sustainability of animal husbandry. Honey bee pollen is rich in bioactive substances, presenting a strong antioxidant activity with possible positive effects on growth performance and non-specific immune responses in reared fish. Despite its favorable characteristics, the addition of honey bee pollen to a meagre (Argyrosomus regius) diet in our trial resulted in a reduction of growth performances and diet digestibility, histological alterations of intestinal morphology, and high levels of biomolecular stress markers, probably due to its complex ultrastructure, which is indigestible for monogastric animals. These negative effects could be overcome by using bioactive component extraction methods and thus eliminating the indigestible fractions. Our results confirmed the general assumption that it should always be considered necessary to test nutraceutical additives of natural origin in a given species in order to verify the effective positive action and exclude any negative repercussions on animal health.This research aimed to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of honey bee pollen (HBP) in meagre (Argyrosoumus regius) juveniles’ diets on growth performance, diet digestibility, intestinal morphology, and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, stress-related molecular markers and biochemical blood profile of fish were evaluated, together with mineral trace and toxic element concentration in pollen and diets. Specimens of meagre (360) of 3.34 ± 0.14 g initial body weight, were randomly allocated to twelve 500 L circular tanks (30 fish per tank). Four diets were formulated: a control diet and three experimental diets with 1%, 2.5%, and 4% of HBP inclusion. All the growth parameters and crude protein and ether extract digestibility coefficients were negatively linearly affected by increased HBP inclusion (p < 0.0001). Histology of medium intestine showed slight signs of alterations in group HPB1 and HPB2.5 compared to control. Fish from HBP4 group showed severe alterations at the intestinal mucosa level. Immunohistochemical detection of TNF-α in the medium intestine showed the presence of TNF-α+ cells in the lamina propria, which resulted in accordance with the increased level of the TNF-α protein detected by immunoblotting in the liver. This stress situation was confirmed by the increased hepatic level of HSP70 (p < 0.05) in fish fed the HBP4 diet and by the linear decrease of total serum protein levels in HBP-containing diets (p < 0.0001). These negative effects can be related to the ultrastructure of the bee pollen grain walls, which make the bioactive substances unavailable and can irritate the intestine of a carnivorous fish such as meagre.

The development of an attract-and-kill bait for controlling the small hive beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

This research investigates the development of an attract-and-kill bait for in-hive control of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida. The control method employs attracting the beetles to an in-hive trap with a feeding attractant/stimulant where a toxicant is delivered by consuming an edible bait. Investigations into mild insecticides led to the use of boric acid. At low doses, boric acid is non-toxic to humans but lethal to insects. This research was designed to identify key compounds that would attract small hive beetles, develop an edible bait using those compounds and if the diet would be consumed by the beetle, determine the lethal dose with the lowest amount of toxicant, and the effects the toxicant would have on the honey bee. Attractive compounds were identified from honey bee pollen patties inoculated Kodamaea ohmeri yeast and resulted in the identification of three key components: ethyl propionate, isobutyl propionate, and ethyl butyrate. A diet comprised of corn gluten meal, barley flour, soy flour, Brewer’s yeast, and glycerin containing the attractant/feeding stimulant was highly attractive and readily consumed. In laboratory trials, the treatments containing the attract-and-kill with 2% boric acid reduced the beetle population to zero within a few days. There was no significant difference between the sex of the beetle for survival on any of the treatments. Honey bee survival was reduced by ingesting the boric acid. The development of an inexpensive small hive beetle trapping system is essential for in-hive control of this devastating pest. This system has the potential to provide beekeepers a tool for control of this pest species that affects honey bee health and survival worldwide.

Honey Bee Pollen in Allergic Rhinitis Healing

The most common atopic disease of the upper respiratory tract is allergic rhinitis. It is defined as a chronic inflammatory condition of nasal mucosa due to the effects of one or more allergens and is usually a long-term problem. Under those conditions, it is desirable to avoid excessive and irrational application of chemical drugs and to consider the use of supplemental medicaments. The purpose of our study was to test the efficiency of apitherapy in allergic rhinitis healing by the application of honey bee pollen. Apitherapy is a branch of alternative medicine that uses honey bee products. Honey bee pollen can act as an allergen and cause new allergy attacks for those who suffer from allergic rhinitis. Conversely, we hoped to prove that smaller ingestion of honey bee pollen on a daily basis would desensitize participants to pollen and thus reduce the severity of allergic rhinitis. We conducted this research with 46 individuals between 22 and 47 years old, treated for allergic rhinitis. The patients filled in a questionnaire, with a visual analogous scale linked with the individual feeling of sneezing and other symptoms of rhinitis before and after the therapy. There was a significant difference (p = .000; α = .05) between symptoms of users before and after therapy conducted using honey bee pollen. After the pollen application, we recorded reduced symptoms with all participants and therefore the results support the main hypothesis. According to our research, the application of the honey bee pollen as therapy for allergic rhinitis is efficient and justified. Also, pollen therapy resulted in positive responses with participants suffering from other health issues.

Pollen reinforces learning in honey bee pollen foragers but not in nectar foragers.

Searching for reward motivates and drives behaviour. In honey bees Apis mellifera, specialized pollen foragers are attracted to and learn odours with pollen. However, the role of pollen as a reward remains poorly understood. Unlike nectar, pollen is not ingested during collection. We hypothesized that pollen (but not nectar) foragers could learn pollen by sole antennal or tarsal stimulation. Then, we tested how pairing of pollen (either hand- or bee-collected) and a neutral odour during a pre-conditioning affects performance of both pollen and nectar foragers during the classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response. Secondly, we tested whether nectar and pollen foragers perceive the simultaneous presentation of pollen (on the tarsi) and sugar (on the antennae) as a better reinforcement than sucrose alone. Finally, we searched for differences in learning of the pollen and nectar foragers when they were prevented from ingesting the reward during the conditioning. Differences in pollen-reinforced learning correlate with division of labour between pollen and nectar foragers. Results show that pollen foragers performed better than nectar foragers during the conditioning phase after being pre-conditioned with pollen. Pollen foragers also performed better than nectar foragers in both the acquisition and extinction phases of the conditioning, when reinforced with the dual reward. Consistently, pollen foragers showed improved abilities to learn cues reinforced without sugar ingestion. We discussed that differences in how pollen and nectar foragers respond to a cue associated with pollen greatly contribute to the physiological mechanism that underlies foraging specialization in the honeybee.

Characteristics of blooming, pollen production, and insect visitors of Polemonium caeruleum L. – a species with a potential to enrich pollinator-friendly urban habitats

Mosaic structure of urban green areas is regarded as favorable for pollinating insects. Ornamental plants can provide food resources to pollinators and may thus be used to create pollinator-friendly habitats. However, detailed data on forage quantity and quality is required for the selection of the most valuable plant species. In this paper, blooming biology, pollen production, and insect visitors of two forms (blue-flower and white-flower) of &lt;em&gt;Polemonium caeruleum&lt;/em&gt; were studied in the period of 2012–2014 in Lublin, SE Poland. Both forms bloomed from mid-May until mid-June. The average mass of pollen produced in a single flower was 1.57 mg and 1.39 mg in blue-flower and white-flower forms, respectively. On average, the blue-flower form produced 7.74 g of pollen/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;, while the white-flower form yielded 6.54 g of pollen/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. Both forms attracted mainly honey bees and solitary bees. &lt;em&gt;Polemonium caeruleum&lt;/em&gt; can be considered a good source of pollen for honey bees and wild insect pollinators and should be propagated in urban pollinator-friendly arrangements.

Review on determinants for adoption of improved forages in Ethiopia

This review paper designed to identify determinants that affect farmer’s decision to adopt and utilization of improved forage technology in Ethiopia. The purpose of forage production in Ethiopia was mainly for animal feed. Forages offer a sustainable basis of protein which improves the output of diverse classes of animals such as lactating cows, fattening cattle, pregnant cows and calves. As well as using for feedstuff, better-quality fodder species were used for soil and water preservation, improving bared lands, raises soil nitrogen available for nutrition crops because of their capability to fix nitrogen and green manuring, erosion control, live fencing, as a wind breakdown, and sources of nectar and pollen for honeybees. Besides, multi-purpose browse trees and shrubs increases fuel wood resources available to farming households, declining the requirement to use dung as fuel and increasing the availability of dung for use as fertilizer. Even though improved forages have many roles in the livelihood and environmental management, level of acceptance and consumption of better-quality forage technology is very low. The main factors that affect for acceptance of improved forage by farmers in Ethiopia include land shortage, shortage of input/forage seed and planting materials, shortage of capital, lack of awareness, poor extension services, free grazing and poor coordination among stakeholders. Therefore, incorporation of improved forage with crops, and with soil and water conservation structure, rise availability of forage seed for the farmer and creating awareness were the best ways for increasing and extensive accepting of forage technologies. Moreover, it is likely to speed up the level improved forage adoption by provided that farmers with training sessions and recurrent extension advises to encourage them to adopt forage production and pass on their information to other farmers. Hence, research centers, development agents and other concerned stakeholders should provide on farm extension training to fill knowledge and skill gaps in the adoption of improved forages.

Optimization of physicochemical properties of novel multiple nanoemulsion for complex food matrices through iterative mathematical modelling

Unfavorable characteristics of certain complex food matrices, such as unpleasant flavors, chemical instability and/or low bioavailability, present a challenge for the food industry. Nanosystems present a solution to these problems, by encapsulating the matrix of interest. In this work a multiple nanoemulsion that encapsulates honeybee pollen extract has been designed and optimized as a natural complex matrix model. Optimization of size and zeta potential was carried out using an iterative mathematical modeling method through a guided experimental design varying the quantities of raw materials (honeybee pollen extract, Lauroglycol 90®, Pluronic F-68 and Chitosan). A total of 29 formulations were performed, 4 of them in triplicate, and an optimal formulation of size 90 ± 1 nm and a zeta potential of +33 ± 2 mV were obtained at the end of the process. The proposed methodology allowed the optimal combination of quantities of raw materials that simultaneously optimize size and zeta potential to be found.

The perils of forcing a generalist to be a specialist: lack of dietary essential amino acids impacts honey bee pollen foraging and colony growth

Commercial honey bee colonies pollinate large monocultures, which contain one type of food and thus, one unbalanced source of nutrients. We examined how a lack of dietary essential amino acids (EAAs) affects honey bee foraging behavior and colony growth. Using pollen traps and semi-synthetic diets, we raised bees on three treatments in the field: no diet manipulation, a diet with all 10/10 honey bee EAAs, or a diet with only 6/10 EAAs. In 2016, during a drought, bees raised on the diet lacking EAAs collected more pollen than bees raised with all EAAs, suggesting compensatory foraging. This was not found in 2017, when natural resources were likely more abundant. As such, honey bees lacking EAAs worked harder to fill the gap in the nutrient poor environment. In 2017, colonies raised on all 10 EAAs expanded slower than control colonies, and colonies raised on 6/10 EAAs did not expand at all. This suggests that EAA diversity, and likely other nutrients found in pollen, are essential for colony growth. Forcing this generalist pollinator to be a specialist drastically reduces colony growth and likely, honey bee fitness.

Superfoods: Big Focus on Honeybee Pollen in Korea and Japan

Superfoods: Big Focus on Honeybee Pollen in Korea and Japan

Study of Bee Forage Based on Bee Bread From 4 Species of Honeybees in Teaching Forest Hasanuddin University

This study was intend to know and to identify bee forage in bee bread from honeybee in Teaching forest Hasanuddin University. Study method used in this study was survey method and identification of plant species were done in Plantation Industry Laboratory. There were 2 stage of the study i.e. collecting sample of bee bread from 4 species of honeybee (Apis cerana, Apis mellifera, Apis dorsata and Trigona sp) and identification of pollen in Plantation Industry Laboratory. Study results indicate that there were 20 pollen species i.e. banana (Musa paradisiaca), papaya (Carica papaya), Mango (Mangifera indica) puteri malu (Mimosa pudica), eggplant (Solanum tovarum), sangitan (Sambucus javanica), water apple (Syzgium aqueum), candlenut (Aleurites moluccana), jatropha (Jatropha curcas), euphorbia (Ephorbia milii), guava (Psidium guajava), Acacia (Acacia mangium), sugar palm (Arenga pinnata), nusa indah (Mussaenda pubescens), chili (Capsicum annum), puspa (Schima wallichii), coconut (Cocos nucifera), corn (Zea mays), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), and Piperaceae. The highesr bee bread from 4 species of honeybee pollen was sugarpalm (Arenga pinnata) with percentage 15,08%. The lowest bee bread was guava (Psidium guajava) with percentage 0,09%. The most pollen collecting was Trigona sp with 10 plant species.

Honey bee waggle dance communication increases diversity of pollen diets in intensively managed agricultural landscapes.

The benefits of honey bee dance communication for colony performance in different resource environments are still not well understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that directional dance communication enables honey bee colonies to maintain a diverse pollen diet, especially in landscapes with low resource diversity. To test this hypothesis, we placed 24 Apis mellifera L. colonies with either intact or experimentally disrupted dance communication in eight agricultural landscapes that differed in the diversity of flowering plants and in the dominance of mass-flowering crops. Pollen from incoming foragers was collected and identified via DNA metabarcoding. Disrupting dance communication affected the way the diversity of honey bee pollen diets was impacted by the dominance of mass-flowering crops in available flower resources (p=.04). With increasing dominance of mass-flowering crops in resource environments, foragers of colonies with intact communication foraged on an increasing proportion of available plant genera (p=.01). This was not the case for colonies with disrupted dance communication (p=.5). We conclude that the honey bee dance communication benefits pollen foraging on diverse plant resources and thereby contributes to high quality nutrition in environments with low-resource diversity.

An integrated assessment and spatial-temporal variation analysis of neonicotinoids in pollen and honey from noncrop plants in Zhejiang, China

Recent studies have shown that neonicotinoids in pollen and honey (collected by honeybees) are likely to pose risks to honeybees. However, data on the integrated residue and spatial-temporal variation of neonicotinoids from noncrop plants, the principle sources of pollen for honey bees, are very limited, especially in China. In this study, we employed a novel assessment method based on the relative potency factor to calculate the integrated residue of seven neonicotinoids in pollen and honey samples collected from noncrop plants in 12 stations of Zhejiang province in three consecutive months. The integrated concentration of neonicotinoids (IMIRPF) ranged from no detected (ND) to 34.93 ng/g in pollen and ND to 8.51 ng/g in honey. Acetamiprid showed the highest detection frequency of 41.7%, followed by clothianidin (33.3%) and dinotefuran (22.2%). The highest IMIRPF occurred in April for stations in the fringe areas of Zhejiang province, whereas for stations in the central areas of Zhejiang province, the IMIRPF in May was relatively higher than the other two months. In terms of spatial change, the pollution variation of pollen samples in Lin'an—Tonglu—Pujiang was relative highly polluted—lightly polluted—highly polluted. For honey samples, spatial variation showed a single trend, and peak values were found in Wenzhou, which may be attributed to the local climate and farming practices. This fundamental information will be helpful to understand the effects of neonicotinoids on honeybees foraging habits.

THE USE OF SIBERIAN BEE POLLEN LOAD DIFFERENT COLLECTION PERIOD IN BIOTECHNOLOGY OF SOUR-MILK PRODUCTS

The global trend in the production and consumption of food products is the use of food ingredients of natural origin. One of the most valuable sources of biologically active nutrients is pollen of honey bees. Our work is aimed at the development of technology for the production and evaluation of the characteristics of fermented yogurt product with Siberian bee pollen of different terms of collection. To do this, we assessed physico-chemical parameters of bee pollen of the different timing of collection in the apiary s. Kama Kuibyshev district of Novosibirsk region, developed the technology of preparation of dairy products with the addition of bee pollen load; studied the physico-chemical, microbiological and organoleptic characteristics of the obtained dairy products and determined the role of the Siberian bee pollen load different terms of collection in biotechnology yogurt products.

Honeybee Pollen Load: Phenolic Composition and Antimicrobial Activity and Antioxidant Capacity.

Honeybee pollen loads result from the agglutination of pollen grains and salivary secretions of bees. The potential use of honeybee pollen as a food supplement greatly depends on its chemical composition, which varies depending on the botanical and geographical origin of the pollen grains. This study aimed to characterize the botanical origin, chemical composition, and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of honeybee pollen from the V Region of Chile. The introduced species Brassica rapa and Eschscholzia californica predominated in the bee pollen analyzed. The honeybee pollen extracts showed antioxidant and antibacterial properties, specifically against the pathogenic microorganism Streptococcus pyogenes. Quercetin and myricetin were found in all samples in large concentrations. The separation of pollen loads from a multifloral sample demonstrated that E. californica pollen loads are responsible for antibacterial activity. This sample also showed a high concentration of quercetin (304.8 mg/100 g of bee pollen). Based on the present results, honeybee pollen from the V Region of Chile has been found to exhibit antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Furthermore, it is proposed to use quercetin as a quality indicator for honeybee pollen from this region of Chile. These results should help establish better quality control criteria for Chilean honeybee pollen and its potential use as a functional ingredient.