King bee's pollen

King bee's pollen, or royal pollen, is an exotic, addictive drug of unclear origins, first introduced to Europe (and perhaps first created?) by Henry Maurice Allard and later (in 1914) spread again in Paris by Dr. Fu Manchu through agents such as Henri Davide and Zack Zimmerman. The latter in particular made a killing selling it to artistic and obsessive types, and also to those plagued by certain dark dreams and compulsions...

Its physical form is that of a fine golden powder. The correct way to take it is through inhalation in carefully measured doses. The main effects are to invigorate and sharpen one's perceptions; but an important side-effect is dulling one's attention to the supernatural (by drowning it out with the natural as it were). This, in theory, made it highly desireable for those seeking to investigate in an increasingly horrifying occult underworld. Valentine Dulac started out using it on Zack's insistence during her experiments with the Schwarzmeer shard, but later realised that dulling her senses to the supernatural was actually the opposite of what she wanted to do and went clean to be able to properly go insane. She appears to have succeeded.

An excessive dose can lead to the opposite effect, dizziness and disorientation from information overflow. Drinking it in dissolved liquid form is similar but even worse, driving people insane.

Likely a reference to the medieval legend of the king bee (sic; not queen).