Bee Pollen

[jusdeb]

Just having a clean out of the kitchen cupboards and came across a jar of Bee Pollen still in its use by date ..

First thought was the Lorikeets might like this , second thought was maybe its a protein source for all the birds .

Any ideas ? Anyone using it ?

[Tintola]

Well ! Let me tell you about bee pollen. Yes I use it, I dissolve it in hot water and mix it with my honey-eater mix, dark brown sugar, dextrose or glucose dissolved. (for Scarlet Honey-eaters) For your purposes, your PC Lorikeets would love it as it is their natural food along with nectar. Before using it make sure it is still ok (I keep mine in the fridge) taste it yourself, it should be sweet and a bit floury tasting. Use it by offering a little in a "D" cup to see if they like it, or mix small amounts in with their wet or dry food. Another way that I give my lorikeets pollen is to cut fresh palm flower inflorescences and hang in their aviary. Any species of palm will do and the way to know if it is laden with pollen is by bee activity on it. They spend hours going over it with their beaks and tongues finding every grain of pollen.
Pollen is a very rich source of food and has a high protein content.

[jusdeb]

Thank you , very informative . So given dry in a cup is OK . They will graze at will ?

Would like to do the flowering palm thing but these birds are not use to branches yet .They have flowering Grevillea in the aviary ( live plant ) and they havent gone near them yet .

My Musks were the same , now they love wet branches to clamber around in .

[Myzomela]

Interestingly, however, many birds cannot digest the pollen that they ingest.

A study on New Holland honeyeaters, for example, found that the pollen found stuck on their faces was exactly the same as that in their faeces ( say that 3 times after a big night out!) ie they were totally undigested after having gone through the gastrointestinal tract.

Even in lorikeets, the digestibility is variable between birds and between pollen sources.

It certainly won't hurt to feed it but its usefulness as a nutritional source is up for debate, especially processed bee pollen ( vs natural pollen on flowers).

[jusdeb]

The good thing with Lorikeets is you can see what is not digested so I will be keeping an eye on that just out of curiosity ..Thanks Myzo , very interesting .

[Myzomela]

Deb,

It's not just whether you can see the pollen coming out or not. It's whether the pollen granules have emptied their contents whilst going through the gastrointestinal tract. Unfortunately, this can only be determined microscopically.

Since you've got it you may as well try it with all the birds and see whether they like it or not.

Let us know how you go.

[jusdeb]

OK not as simple as I thought then ... OK will see what they think of it all and keep posted .

I felt the Greviallea flowers today and they were sticky , dont know why the PCs havent been having a feed on them . The ones I gave the Musks have been shredded to bits .

[Myzomela]

Deb

Don't be too disheartened.

One thing I've found with lorikeets is that their acceptance of new food items can be influenced by what they've been brought up on.

Many have been fed just dry food, some wet & the odd apple and it can take some time for them to accept other food items, even flowering plants. The smaller species I find can be even pickier- some never learn to eat anything else & you may have to resort to pureeing food items and mixing these through the nectar eg greens, sweet potato and pumpkin & other fruits.

[jusdeb]

The PCs are strictly apple , dry food and wet food .
Where the others will take grapes , orange , greens etc and cake .
The Pcs throw the stuff they dont like away and that's it .

Guess apple is OK but Id rather see them eating more variety .

Ill keep offering it , its no big deal as I have to prepare it for the others .

Yes it is disheartening but I'm sure in time they will change in time (well I hope so )

[Diane]

Was reading a webpage about Lavender Waxbills and in one feeding recipe pollen was included to "put lead in the cockbird's pencil"