In the study Randy references:

> An interesting finding in this study concerns the lack of relationship between the crude protein content of the diets tested and their relative consumption by newly- emerged workers. This lack of relationship suggests that young worker bees, particularly nurses, may have no inherent mechanism through which they can discriminate the protein content of the diet that they are consuming. If workers could discriminate this aspect of pollen quality, it would be expected that larger quantities of some pollen species, such as Helianthus and Pinus, would have been consumed to compensate for their low protein content.

This reminded me of a study which compared consumers' and nutritionists' conception about which foods were more nutritious. Consumers rated granola as highly nutritious while nutritionists gave it poor marks because of the added sugar. This is interesting because without the added sugar, granola would be highly nutritious but so unpalatable that no one would eat it. In other words, the attractiveness of food is a very important factor governing the rate of consumption, and hence its value. 

Apparently bees, too, consume more of a food source if it "tastes good" than if it doesn't, leading to getting more benefit from that particular food source. It's logical that pollen from bee attracting flowers would taste better than wind borne pollen like pine. And as we have noted in the past, bees collect non-nutritious substances like fresh sawdust, possibly because it is fragrant from the phloem sap. I think it's important to bear in mind the importance that sensory attraction plays in the lives of pollinators.

Years ago my partner was put on a low salt diet. We sampled everything from low salt tomato sauce, -- bread, -- even cheese.. It all tasted terrible. 

PLB 

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