Foraging bees store nectar, the colony's principal source of carbohydrates, in the so-called honey stomach in their abdomens. When they return to the hive, they regurgitate the nectar to middle-aged workers, which either distribute the nectar for immediate consumption or process it into honey and store it in special honey cells. Sometimes foragers bring water rather than nectar. A honeybee with a full pollen basket visible on her hind left leg.
Pollen provides colony members with vital amino acids, vitamins, and fats.
It is stored in pollen cells near the brood cells, so it is readily available to nurse bees, which fashion the pollen into a kind of bread for supplying nourishment to developing larvae.