In the honey bee, larval dietary protein is acquired through the divided efforts of pollen foragers and nurse bees that sequester proteins derived from consumed stored pollen to biosynthesize proteinaceous hypopharyngeal glandular secretions that are fed to developing larvae.  Camazine (1993) hypothesized that brood and stored pollen indirectly affect the behavior of pollen foragers through a single inhibitory signal, most likely brood food.  Direct experimental manipulation of brood food production and pollen foraging has not yet been demonstrated. In this study the brood food pollen foraging regulation hypothesis was tested in a novel way using a protease inhibitor (PI) that interferes with midgut protein digestion in adults resulting in depleted protein production of hypopharyngeal glands (HP).  Colonies were provisioned with equal amounts of PI treated and untreated pollen.  The following variables were measured over a 30 day period,  ratio of pollen to non-pollen foragers entering colonies, pollen load weights, hypopharyngeal gland protein content, midgut proteolytic enzyme activity, age of first foraging, adult bee mortality, and colony growth variables such as area of comb occupied by immatures and stored food.  Results indicated that PI treatment did not significantly affect the ratio of pollen to non-pollen foragers entering colonies or pollen load weights (P>0.05).  PI treatment however had significant deleterious affects on amount of protein extractable from HP glands (P<0.001), midgut enzyme activity (P<0.0001), age of first foraging (P<0.01), worker length of life, and amount of space occupied by immatures.  Despite the harmful effects of PI treatment on individuals and the colony, the lack of any effect on pollen foraging strongly suggests that hypopharyngeal gland protein production (brood food) is not a pollen foraging regulation mechanism in the honey bee.