Bee Pollen

I recently acquired an ounce of bee pollen at the Springfield Pagan Pride Day and am just now learning about this amazing substance. It is food for the young bees and with 40% protein and almost every other nutrient we need it is one of the most completely nourishing substances on the planet! It has been used and praised by many people and cultures throughout history the world over. It's in the Holy Bible as well as ancient Egyptian and Chinese texts. The fathers of Western medicine, Hippocrates, Pliny the Elder and Pythagoras all prescribed it. It stimulates the organs and glands, increases energy so much that world-class athletes swear by it. It also promotes a longer, healthier life. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola:

Gathering pollen is not as easy as it sounds. Once a honeybee arrives at a flower, she settles herself in and nimbly scrapes off the powdery loose pollen from the stamen with her jaws and front legs, moistening it with a dab of the honey she brought with her from the hive. The enlarged and broadened tarsal segments of her legs have a thick trimming of bristles, called pollen combs. The bee uses these combs to brush the gold powder from her coat and legs in mid-flight. With a skillful pressing movement of her auricle, which is used as a hammer, she pushes the gathered gold into her baskets. Her pollen baskets, surrounded by a fringe of long hairs, are simply concave areas located on the outside of her tibias. When the bee's baskets are fully loaded, the microscopic golden dust has been tamped down into a single golden grain, or granule.

One of the things I find most interesting about bee pollen is that it cannot be duplicated in the lab because there are elements of bee pollen our science cannot even identify! Now how's that for an example of the brilliant complexity of nature. One teaspoon a day provides the most complete nutrition from any one food on the Earth. Bee pollen is the richest source of vitamins to be found in a single food. It contains more amino acids that eggs, beef and cheese of an equal weight. It increases the production of white and red blood cells and prevents the development of many forms of bacteria. And it has more protein THAN ANY ANIMAL SOURCE! So, along with nuts vegetarians have bee pollen to help out too. Wow, there's so much to know about bee pollen and it's apparently not that uncommon. Where was I when the bee pollen memo was handed out? I totally missed it, but now I'm fascinated by it and look forward to working with it for years to come. For tons of more information about bee pollen be sure to visit Shirley's Wellness Cafe. It's fascinating! Anybody else eat bee pollen?