> My own limited personal dissection of 5th-instar larvae confirms the lack
of pollen in their guts (I beg the rest of you with 400x 'scopes to
confirm)

Ian Stell's book "Understanding Bee Anatomy" includes a picture (Fig 1.56)
of pollen husks in the larval midgut at day 10 (and quite a lot of them).
Winston "Biology of the honey bee" cites several references stating that
the heaviest pollen feeding occurs on day 5. Additionally in "The Hive and
the Honey Bee" a reference to Haydak (1970) suggests that pollen supplies
little of nitrogen requirement and may be a honey contaminant.

No wonder you were having the discussion. Clear as mud!

Cheers, Andrew

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