> I like the academic discussion on this list. I'd like to see more research on the resulting bee bread analysis. 

I thought Kirk Anderson et al. blew a hole in the beebread thesis:

> Despite a greater abundance of older stored pollen cells on brood frames, bees showed a marked preference for the consumption of freshly-stored pollen. Two to four day-old pollen cell contents were significantly more likely to be consumed, while pollen cell contents more than seven days old were eaten at much lower rates.

> These findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis promoting a period of microbially-mediated, “beebread maturation” that results in greater palatability or nutritive value for aged pollen stores. Rather, stored pollen that is not eaten in the first few days accumulates as excess stores preserved in a less preferred, but nutritionally-similar state.

Carroll MJ, Brown N, Goodall C, Downs AM, Sheenan TH, Anderson KE (2017) Honey bees preferentially consume freshly-stored pollen. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0175933. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0175933

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