Bee Pollen

[Ticul]

I managed to get a hold of 3 lbs bee pollen from a guy in my local saltwater club who raises bees. He said he would be able to put the bees in specific places if the roaches would benefit from one type of pollen over the next.

The pollen he had from last summer is mostly from citrus with some almond, alfalfa, and wildflowers. I live in a large agricultural area in central California so almost any flowering plant is available. Does someone have intel on this?

Much obliged,

Brent

 

[Landy Tomiln]

From the perspective of an apiarist, pollen is a wonderful feed for any type of insect! Bee pollen has shown that it is made up of about 40% protein, with more than half of the protein load made up of free amino acids which are readily absorbed by the body. In all, bee pollen contains 96 known nutrients, including every single nutrient that’s needed to sustain life. What the "type" specifies is what kind of flowers that the bees took their pollen from. So if he says that the pollen was collected from citrus, it wouldn't be much different from feeding your roaches an orange, except for the super hit of nutrition that you're getting from direct pollen instead of waiting for the flower to fruit and ripen. Plus, pollen is a lot easier for a small mouth to digest. So basically, your only concern is if your roaches have a preference for the flavor of oranges. Though, honestly, even if your roaches don't like citrus fruits, they may actually prize citrus pollen.

There is no downside to experimenting with different types of pollen Celebrate bees!

 

[vfox]

I feed mine bee pollen occasionally. They readily devour it and because it's dry you don't need to worry much about mold. As for which is better, no clue. What Landy mentioned about the nutritional value is true, but beyond that I don't know if it will effect much.

 

[Keith]

I never saw wild roaches eat pollen but then again I only have one wood roach species here they like rotten fruit.

But I guess pollen seems like a good treat! Would apple pollen be good I get that?

 

[Ticul]

Thank You Landy and vfox! I'm going to use it as a small portion of my dry food mix.

Keith, I imagine if they'll eat apple pollen it would be good for them.

I hope they eat the kind I found.