Pollen in Western Australia
Oliver v DeGroot
Any investigation into bee pollen will lead you to DeGroot’s amino acid
ratios required for good bee health. Recently while testing pollen substitutes
Randy Oliver noticed that DeGroot’s measurements used tryptophan as a starting
point, tryptophan is found in small amounts and not reliable to measure.
Oliver decided to start from leucine that is most abundant and easy to measure, his ratios came out
a bit different, the most noticeable was the halving of the required isoleucine
that s found lacking in Australian natives. Oliver’s ratios are a closer match to
that found in Royal Jelly and the best performing pollen substitutes.
See
Re-interpreting DeGroot’s findings.
| Poor | Fair | Good | Exelent |
Protein
Crude protein levels should be 25% for good bee health and long life, but pollen with levels between 20% and 25% are ok if they are in abundant supply.
Protein levels need to be looked at together with amino acid levels.
Fats
It is not fully understanded the benefits of fats for bees, but it is noted that they find pollens with high fats loads very attractive. High fat levels show value in fighting disease and improving the immune system of the bees. Studies showed bees with low-fat pollen and high-fat pollen took 40 and 5,000,000 spores of American Foul Brood to infect larva respectively.
Amino Acids
Protein is made up of many amino acids, ten of these are essential for bee development and development drops off very quickly if any of these drops below the minimum. It’s like walking off a cliff rather then a linear decline. In combination with other pollens these deficiencies may be overcome but would have to be eaten together.
| Pass | Fails Degroot or Oliver | Fails both |
List of Western Australian Pollens
| Name | Scientific | Protein | Fats | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paterson's Curse | Echium Plantagineum | 33.00 | 1.71 | Paterson’s Curse has a wide range of protein levels from an excellent 28 to an outstanding 37, an excellent pollen for building long living brood. |
| Marri(Redgum) | Corymbia Calophylla | 27.70 | 1.50 | Marri is a remarkable pollen, plenty of protein, good amino acid profile, and while not being high in fats, it has the right kind of fatty acids linoleic and linolenic acids that inhibit bacteria and American Foul Brood. Marri also has a very high levels of other things like minerals. Marri builds brood very well, if you can find a flow following Marri to take advantage of the strong growth you will do well. |
| Capeweed | Arctotheca Calendula | 17.00 | 3.40 | |
| Canola | Brassica Napus | 25.00 | 7.00 | Canola is a perfect pollen that has it all and is found in abundance at just the right time of year to build your bees. |
| Jarrah | Eucalyptus Marginata | 19.70 | 0.70 | There is nothing good to be said about Jarrah Pollen, low on protein and is compounded by low isoleucine, they collect a lot of it because they cannot get the protein they need. It will raise short lived bees in time for the Marri and stuff your hive full of useless pollen reducing laying area. |
| Banksias | In general | 32.00 | 2.10 | There are many different Banksias, most have similar great crude protein levels, but some lack Isoleucine other have plenty. Getting several species together on the heathlands may even this out.This data was collected from several different eastern states species but thought to be similar to Western Australian species. Most Banksias are found in Western Australia |
| Powderbark | Eucalyptus Accedens | 23.60 | 1.02 | Powderbark is not a great pollen and is also collected in summer when little or no other pollens exist. |
| Wandoo | Eucalyptus Wandoo | 21.80 | 1.30 | Wandoo pollen is very low in Isoleucine, your bees will go backwards on it without some other source of protein. |
| Almonds | Prunus Amygdalus | 25.90 | 2.30 | A natural food of honeybees hard to fault. Almonds comfortable exceeds in all amino acid levels. |
| Flatweed | Hypochoeris Radicata | 16.50 | 8.00 | No matter what pollen bees are on, they will often get some flatweed as well. Low in protein but high in fats. |
| Karri | Eucalyptus Diversicolor | 25.00 | 1.90 | |
| Yarri(Blackbutt) | Eucalyptus Patens | 26.50 | 1.35 | |
| Spotted Gum | Corymbia Maculata | 29.00 | 1.70 | |
| Lupins | Lupinus angustifolius | 34.00 | 2.90 | |
| Wild Radish | Raphanus Raphanistrum | 25.20 | 0.00 | Great early pollen in the wheatbelt as soon as it rains. |
| Avocado | Persea Americana | 24.40 | 0.00 | |
| White Clover | Trifolium Repens | 25.10 | 2.50 | |
| Balansa Clover | Trifolium Balansae | 25.50 | 2.00 | |
| Citrus | All Citrus | 18.50 | 3.00 | |
| River Red Gum | Eucalyptus Camaldulensis | 25.00 | 3.00 | |
| Vetch | Vicia | 24.10 | 1.80 | |
| Wattles | In general | 27.00 | 1.20 |