Perhaps it depends on one's definition of "liquid", but bees certainly
   eat "solid" pollen, not just the liquid layer on top of pollen-filled
   cells. A worker bee's rectum is often full of the "solid" remnants
   (outer shell) of pollen grains.
 
   That outer shell, by the way, is made of a remarkably durable substance.
   People (sometimes even public employees) can extract pollen grains from
   a core taken from the sediments of lakes, and infer many things about
   the environment thousands of years in the past. The extraction process
   uses extremely corrosive chemicals like hot nitric acid, hydrochloric
   acid, etc to dissolve everything else (including quartz sand!) and leave
   the pollen grains in a condition so close to "new" that they can be
   readily identified by the texture of their surface and pattern of pores
   through the coat, as well as their size and shape.
 
   Regards
 
   Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist
   B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
   1201 103 Ave
   Dawson Creek B.C.
        V1G 4J2  CANADA          Tel (250) 784-2231     fax (250) 784-2299
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