Bee pollen...

[snitz427]

When you get the bees I hope you'll be living in a rural area so you don't have to worry about heavy metal dust etc.

Also you can make beeswax candles too if you have hives....and if you're unlucky, you will also end up with your own waxworms. I pray not!

Yep, we are currently bordering the city (in a very industrial area). Looking forward to buying a few acres of land in a very rural area in 2-3 years. The area we are interested in borders a huge reservoir and preserve.

I’ll still be wary of local farmers but with the acreage I hope to have at least .25-.5 acres of wildflowers and the. Another .25 acres of flowering fruit trees and veggie gardens. Not enough to keep all the bees on the property, but it should help a lot!

 

[Pickle-cham]

Something not mentioned yet in this thread is the bees saliva(or spit) used to collect pollen to place it onto there leg sacs.
This could make up a large amount of bee collected pollen containing bees digestive enzymes which are some interesting substances in themselves;

http://news.gatech.edu/news/2019/03...pit-and-flower-oil-could-form-basis-new-glues

 

[kinyonga]

I thought pollen stuck to the legs because they are hairy....and that later it's mixed with spit to make bee bread. Is this wrong?

 

[Kaizen]

Yep, we are currently bordering the city (in a very industrial area). Looking forward to buying a few acres of land in a very rural area in 2-3 years. The area we are interested in borders a huge reservoir and preserve.

I’ll still be wary of local farmers but with the acreage I hope to have at least .25-.5 acres of wildflowers and the. Another .25 acres of flowering fruit trees and veggie gardens. Not enough to keep all the bees on the property, but it should help a lot!

People keep hives on rooftops in Manhattan. Bees’ll forage for miles! But, while I have you in the fantasizing stage: plant a grove of big lindens. Linden honey is sooooo good!

 

[Kaizen]

I thought pollen stuck to the legs because they are hairy....and that later it's mixed with spit to make bee bread. Is this wrong?

Bees actually have “pollen baskets” on their legs where pollen in collected for transport. You can watch them come back to the hive chalked full, and their pollen baskets are plainly visible. Like their wearing different coloured ankle weights.

 

[Pickle-cham]

I thought pollen stuck to the legs because they are hairy....and that later it's mixed with spit to make bee bread. Is this wrong?

Yes it is stuck to the hair on leg hairs or scopa. They mix it with there saliva as they go along, Which makes stick to the hairs and waxy rather than fluffy & powdery like pollen is found naturally before bees add their spit

 

[Pickle-cham]

The further processing of the bee pollen (pollen collected by foraging honey bees) to produce bee bread is carried out by the hive bees that add further spit, nectar & honey.
Honey is produced by the bees passing around nectar mouth to mouth untill its moisture content is reduced.

 

[snitz427]

Yes it is stuck to the hair on leg hairs or scopa. They mix it with there saliva as they go along, Which makes stick to the hairs and waxy rather than fluffy & powdery like pollen is found naturally before bees add their spit

I was going to say the same and wondered if thats why bee pollen is so different from straight pollen. Or why its even called “bee” pollen at all….

But I couldn’t recall if I was misremembering, and was afraid to misspeak w/o diving down the bee research rabbit hole. Today has not been my most productive day lol

 

[Pickle-cham]

Perhaps these salivary enzymes increase the uptake of other supplements given.
It's hard to find anything negative about pollen would seem it is a miracle substance except when given to chameleons who are already supplemented. Could be a cue that the supplements given aren't quite on point, and the bee pollen is giving a contraindication in form of edema. not because of bee pollens contents but amplifier to the other supplements given if bee pollen is in addition or on top of. My suspicion is the artificial D3 we supplement since how or where in the body would chameleon utilise this in skin or internal organs if the latter then symptoms if edema might be due too pollen Expelling toxicity from internal organs. "Pollen is also characterized by a high anti-inflammatory activity" which is strange since gular edema is exactly that inflammation

”However, when it was administered with toxic substances, it protected liver cells from their harmful effect, which indicates, in turn, its ability to prevent toxication. In the detoxifying process, an important role is played by polyphenols, mainly flavonoids and phenolic acids [28–31]”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377380/

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Yes - a better list, IMO, is the ASPCA's as mentioned previously.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. My vets agree (with each other) that it's for cats & dogs—not reptiles.

There's loads of info out there if you really want to get granular (and use scientific sources), but that's likely overkill. You're looking to avoid those known as most toxic - and generally, if a plant has toxic traits, that info is easy to find.

That's exactly why I prefer the 4 lists I posted.

If you have yet to hear someone say avoid philodendron, and recommend pothos, you must not read too many of the plant posts.

You may be correct there. I got my plant information from a number of other sources. The only place I've seen pothos mentioned as toxic was from a Reptiles Magazine post,
https://reptilesmagazine.com/list-of-plants-that-can-be-toxic-to-reptiles/
which was contradicted by other articles.
https://reptilesmagazine.com/plants-for-reptiles-and-amphibians/
https://reptilesmagazine.com/top-20-popular-herps/