Amount and quality of pollen ingested in the first days of life affected the pesticide sensitivity of young and older bees. Bees fed adequate high quality pollen are less sensitive than counterparts fed inadequate or inferior pollen or pollen substitute

Food supply conditions exert a clear influence: tested with the same pesticides, hive bees from colonies having had a rich early food supply, and young bees bred then, are less sensitive than their counterparts having had moderate or no early food supply. Poison sensitivity of summer bees increases with age; most sensitive are old winter bees which had practiced broodcare in early spring.   

It is known that the nutrient value, or protein content, of various pollen types differs substantially. Conifer pollen is practically worthless for bees or brood. Highly nutritious are pollens of rape and other crucifers, all fruit species, horse and sweet chestnuts, red and white clovers, poppy, heather, crocus, willow species  

As evidenced by results in this work, not only the development of physiological condition, and the brood potential, of the worker bee depend on pollen: the bee's pesticide sensitivity is influenced correspondingly.

Influence of pollen feeding and physiological condition on pesticide sensitivity of the honey bee Apis melli[era carnica
Oecologia (Berlin) (1983) 59:106-- 128 Oecologia 9 Springer-Verlag I983

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