Honeybee Frass
This is a sample collected from the surface of automobiles
in a parking lot in Melbourne, Australia during November.
Macro Photograph
Definition/Function:
Honeybee frass consists of pollen grains, wax, and glutamine. In the Spring, when the
bees become active again, they can defecate up to one third of
their body weight as single pellets. These pellets have the consistency of slush and can
streak or form globules on the surfaces they land on. The
bees defecate in flight so surfaces between the hive and the nectar source may be
spotted with these deposits.
Significance in the Environment:
Characteristic Features:
Honeybee frass contain a variety of different pollen grain, crystals of highly
birefringent glutamine, and wax. The wax may also form birefringent
crystals but they are not as birefringent as the glutamine crystals.
Associated Particles:
References:
