Does Anyone Have Some Royal Jelly?

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AntMind
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:02 pm

Does Anyone Have Some Royal Jelly?

Post by AntMind » Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:18 pm

Hello, all!


I am a local Boulderite who is also an amateur myrmecologist - that is to say, I raise ants. I have a number of species of local ants; one of the best things for them to eat is fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster or hydei). Recent studies from scientists in Japan (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 10093.html-Nature magazine) have shown that feeding fruit fly larvae on diets high in royal jelly caused them to develop into oversized fruit flies with some characteristics of queen bee physical differentiation from the worker caste (larger thorax and abdomen, among other things). It has also shown some promise in aiding longevity and development of queen ants.

The way I see it, big fat fruit flies have (per fly) more of the proteins and liquids necessary for my ants, with less left over (ants don't eat the chitonous carapace) to clutter up the nest. I am already successfully culturing flies to give to the ants, but they are small and leave a lot of trash (per feeding) far down in the nests where I can't remove it. Eventually this clutter molds, so it is rather unsightly and danger to the ants.

The more I read about royal jelly, though, the more I am struck by the fact that royalactin (one of the important active ingredients in royal jelly) does not do well stored for very long, especially at room temperature.

So, I have come here to ask you all, my fellow hymenoptera enthusiasts, if you have any fresh royal jelly in the Boulder area. I can come to you and will certainly compensate you for your jelly, but I want to make sure I can get it locally and fresh, as I will only need a smallish amount to farm the flies and occasionally feed queens. I don't think I trust amazon to deliver it in good condition, and I certainly will never use the amount they sell before the royalactin is degraded past viability.


Can anyone here help me out?

Backyard Bees
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:52 am

Re: Does Anyone Have Some Royal Jelly?

Post by Backyard Bees » Sat Jul 12, 2014 11:10 am

Interesting request! I hope you get some responses. Unfortunately, there aren't a vast number of people rearing queens in here Boulder County. You might also try contacting the Colorado State Beekeepers' Association. http://coloradobeekeepers.org
Backyard Bees
P.O. Box 7426
Boulder, Colorado 80306
http://www.BackyardBees.com

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