EFFECTS OF A BEE POLLEN DIET ON SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF INBRED STRAINS OF MICE

Inbred mice of both sexes of the CBA/KI, C3H/f/KI, and C57 Black/KI strains were fed seven different commercially-available brands of bee pollen and drinking water ad libitum, starting at young adult age (30-35 days), as the only source of food intake for periods up to one year. Ninety-eight of 100 mice or the three strains survived in a healthy condition (360 to 369 days) when fed four of the seven brands studied. Zero of 80 mice of the CBA/Kl and C3H/f/KI strains survived when fed the other three brands, with all mice dying over a period of four to 25 days after starting on the bee pollen diet. It was not possible to determine whether these differences in the brands of bee pollen were related to differences in quality or quantity of nutritional value or the use of potentially toxic additives or binders to mice in the packaging of the bee pollen product. A second study examined the growth of CBA/KI male and female mice fed a bee pollen diet between 30 and 90 days of age. The bee pollen diet selected for this study consisted of natural bee pollen granules proven to support long-term survival of CBA/KI mice in the first study. The study compared body weight, nose-rump length, and organ weights including those of the brain, heart, lungs, liver, gut, kidney, spleen, gastrocnemius muscle and inguinal/gonadal fat depots of the pollen fed mice to control CBA/KI mice fed a standard laboratory mouse chow. There were no significant differences in either males or females of the two dietary groups when comparing wet weights of brains, hearts, lungs, livers or kidneys. There were two strong differences between the two groups. On one hand, the gut weights in the bee pollen fed mice were significantly heavier, and on the other hand, the spleen and fat depot weights were significantly lighter in the bee pollen groups. These findings demonstrate that certain commercially available brands of bee pollen contain all the necessary nutritional elements to maintain laboratory mice in a healthy condition for a period of at least one year as well as provide the essential quality and quantity of nutritional factors to promote comparable body and organ growth during the period between 30 to 90 days of age. These findings also suggest it might be practical to use bee pollen as part of a nutritional maintenance program for different mammals. Bee pollen may also help meet part of human nutritional needs.