Bees

[YigosFlower]

My husband keeps bees and as we have a few hives now I know I could get my fair share of bees easily (and perhaps on occasion wax worms) I know my husband will cringe at the thought of him polishing off bees, but I thought it might be a different/fun snack for occasion. What are your thoughts? Anyone have any experience? It makes me nervous, but thought i'd ask as I have more than enough just hanging around. =]

Thanks in advance.

 

[ParabuthusKing]

Ummm bees have stingers. Have you ever tried to eat one? I would have to say that is a terrible idea!!

 

[werecat]

From what I've read there's evidence that bees do make up part of some wild chameleons' diets. However, I would caution that feeding bees in a captive situation is probably a totally different thing that would likely present hazards that would not occur in the wild. I don't have experience trying this so hopefully others will weigh in.

 

[YigosFlower]

Well, upon further research, I found this. https://www.chameleonforums.com/bees-66382/

So I suppose it is a plausible idea. Think about it. . they both come from the wild and people also keep them in outdoor enclosures. There is a good chance of an encounter when basking in a blooming tree top.

AND, umm, you can remove stingers pretty easily if you wanted to.(Not to mention our bees are very docile.)

I would also think bees might have some type of healthy benefits as they have so many benefits for humans. Just an open minded question for the nutrition of my chameleon.

Nature is sometimes pretty amazing how it all works together so some creature can and cannot consume certain things. My mouth isn't exactly designed like a chameleon's.

Also, by the looks of all the videos I've seen of chams eating bees, the bee doesn't have a chance to sting anyways. (I'm not suggesting I would put a swarm of bees in the cage with him.)

 

[bobcochran]

Some of my panthers will eat them and others won't. It's funny because they
know what the bees are: they chew them very quickly at first. I imagine the
chams that don't eat them also know what they are capable of.

 

[YigosFlower]

I would definitely take the stingers out at first just to see how things go and make sure he felt comfortable with them first. . . Who knows, maybe I will never try it. . but it is a good idea for an extra option.

 

[Tay And A]

I personally wouldn't try bees. Too much risk associated with them. There was a thread on this topic maybe 1 year ago? Hopefully someone will find it and post a link

 

[YigosFlower]

Thanks!!! Hmm I don't know, I'm torn on the matter.

 

[YigosFlower]

Also, what about drones? They don't have stingers!!!!!???

 

[MelissaB]

Are your bees treated with anything? I've read where sometimes they're treated for varroa mites, and I'm not sure if that would have an effect on your chameleon.

 

[YigosFlower]

No, ours are 100% natural and not even fed anything artificial like a lot of keepers do. I suppose I don't know where all they go, but the fields in their area are not sprayed either.

 

[pigglett79]

There are many accounts of chameleons eating bees both in Madagascar and Hawaii. I've also known of plenty to eat bees while in the back yard. If you do a search of this forum for bees you will also find plenty of threads about them eating bees just fine. There is also video of bee eating.

 

[fluxlizard]

Somewhere in my post history are some links to studies examining wild chameleon stomach contents. Bees are a very large component for many wild chameleon's diet. Bees and wasps and then in a separate category flies made up the highest percentage of the diet if I remember correctly.

 

[werecat]

Give it a try. If you know your bees don't roam in an area where they could encounter pesticides or other harsh chemicals it should be fine. If it were me I would remove the stinger if putting it in his enclosure because as I said before, the situation of captivity where both animals are forced into an enclosed space and can't get away from each other could lead to incidents that would not happen in a wild situation. If your cham is basking outside you could probably leave the stingers on.

As you said, there could definitely be some nutritional benefits. Many people add bee pollen to their dry gutloads!

Let us know how it goes.