# edible bee larvae?



## fr0sty (Jun 13, 2009)

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried eating some honey bee larvae before?

I was getting rid of some drone comb with larvae in them today and it reminded me of a show where bee/wasp larvae were a delicacy in some parts of the world.

Maybe they taste like honey?


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

The largest larva are delicious, especially with a little honey. No kidding. Taste like cream!


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## fr0sty (Jun 13, 2009)

really? wow. do you eat them raw or did you cook'em first?


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

Raw, fresh off the drip boards drizzled with orange honey. Mmmmm.


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## Cedar Hill (Jan 27, 2009)

Makes excellent bait for fishing in all forms, so we know the fish enjoy them.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

Larvae no good for bait too soft. Purple eyed drone pupae will work but for fish bait try waxworms they stay on.


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Tom...you are a sick, sick man.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

Sick, I've been told, but I never ate a wax worm. opcorn:


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Raw, fresh off the drip boards drizzled with orange honey. Mmmmm. 

High in digestible protein!
Better than tasting than Frosted Flakes or scredded wheat
Ernie


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## Jeffrey Todd (Mar 17, 2006)

My wife's family eats them. I never tried them, but I'll ask about it next time I see them.


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

Do a search. It's been discussed on the board before.

I believe some of the asians fry/sautee the larvae.

If memory serves me correct, some cultures brew a tea from dead adult bees.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*Here you go--
Mealworm Chocolate Chip Cookies.*
*http://www.manataka.org/page160.html
Mealworm Chocolate Chip Cookies *
1/2 cup butter 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup white sugar 
1 egg 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup all purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 cup oats 
1/2 cup chocolate chips 
1/4 cup mealworm flour 


Cream butter well, then mix in sugar, egg, vanilla flour, salt, baking soda, chocolate chips, oats, and mealworm flour. Drop batter by the teaspoonful on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees farenheit. This recipe doesn't have much in the way of palpable insect content, but is an excellent way to introduce others (or yourself!) to entomophagy. Even many rather squeamish people will try mealworm cookies, since the cookie format doesn't look "gross" to most people, and since it is rather difficult to actually taste the mealworms, though they enrich the cookie with a somewhat nutty flavor and extra protein.

Enjoy,
Ernie


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)




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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

It's all in your mind! opcorn:


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## lakeman (Feb 21, 2009)

Ya'll are disgusting


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## peletier (May 5, 2007)

Tom G. Laury said:


> It's all in your mind! opcorn:


Yeah, give me a nice fresh chicken egg any day....fried, boiled, poached


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

I went to work for an old time beekeeper when I was in high school in the late 50's. He had a pretty good royal jelly business and one day as we were pulling cells I asked if anyone had ever complained about a larva being overlooked in a cell(we took the larva out then folded over the cell cap and placed a dozen cells in small honey jars). He said it wouldn't matter because the larva tastes just like royal jelly and urged me to try one. I did and he was absolutely correct! I still eat them now and then if I tear a cell or squash one by accident.


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## lakeman (Feb 21, 2009)

Ya'll are disgusting


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## bnatural (Aug 10, 2008)

Hey, if they're god enough for bears, both black and Grylls, they can't be all bad. Protein is protein.

Bill


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Yeah, give me a nice fresh chicken egg any day....fried, boiled, poached
Have you any idea what a cloaca is and what comes out of one?
Ernie


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Have you any idea what a cloaca is and what comes out of one?
Ernie[/QUOTE]

Sometimes an egg, sometimes poop, sometimes urine! Sometimes a couple of the above mixed together.


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## cow pollinater (Dec 5, 2007)

I must admit that my initial reaction was not all that accepting of the idea of eating insects but then it occured to me that I consider "mountain oysters" to be a gourmet treat... dosn't sound so bad after you've popped a few deep fried testicles in your mouth with a smile on your face.
You have my word I'll try it sometime.


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## garprob (Jan 20, 2009)

Just think- every time you pour milk on your cereal you are drinking secretions from the mamary glands of a cow. When you really think about it a lot of things are disgusting- it really is in your mind.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Just think- every time 
That's why survival school introduces you to some new and untried food items like the eye of an animal contains essential body salts.
Regards,
Ernie


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

I got an email from an Asian lady who lives in a nearby town asking if I would sell her some bee larvae. She said they were delicious. I declined the offer, however. Maybe I should have sold her some drone larvae!


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

The big drone larvae are the ones for eating. 

Mountain oysters are really really good. 

It's fun to have fun with you all, we really get in to it, don't we? :thumbsup:


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

Be glad you're rich enough to have flour made from wheat. Used to, instead of using flour the poor folks ate ratmeal, which is ground up insects. 

The Bible says John the Baptist lived on locusts and honey. I read an article studying how possible it was. They discovered that if he was gathering grasshoppers in fields, he could gather enough an hour a day to meet protein needs and an hour a week at a lakeside.

The Western culture is one of the few in the world that does not include insects as part of their diet.


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## John Smith (Jan 31, 2006)

Yeah, don't waste those swarm cells when you tear them down. They make the best nutrition you will have had that day.

Isn't it marvelous how christians, who swear by the bible, will eat pork and shun insects, when according to Moses, insects are favoured and pork is forbidden!

Oh well, someone has to keep the medicos in a livlihood.

Cheers,

JohnS


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

If you ask me, it's a lot more fun to talk about eating bugs than it is to talk about others' religions. :shhhh:


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Oh, I forgot to mention...*

When "Survivor" first started, I applied!  
Video is part of app., I was eating bee larva in cutoffs no shirt no veil but didn't make the cut! Almost forgot that one...


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

*Re: Oh, I forgot to mention...*



Tom G. Laury said:


> When "Survivor" first started, I applied!
> Video is part of app., I was eating bee larva in cutoffs no shirt no veil but didn't make the cut! Almost forgot that one...


I'd have picked yours for sure!

As for the rest of this thread,  I know it's all in your mind, but...there's the mind to deal with. Plus I get to thinking of the bees like pets. That's why I raise bees and not cows or pigs or chickens! My niece and I even named all of the queens. Though somehow there has been something morbidly fascinating about reading this thread....


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## bnatural (Aug 10, 2008)

*Re: Oh, I forgot to mention...*



terri lynn said:


> Plus I get to thinking of the bees like pets. That's why I raise bees and not cows or pigs or chickens! My niece and I even named all of the queens.


Years ago, my sister and her family (sis, bro-in-law, 6 kidlings, dogs) were visiting in mid-winter. My nephews and I went out to look at the hives. The bees had gone out on cleansing flights earlier, so there were lots of little 'bee graves' in the snow. When I explained that the bees had died and were 'buried' in the snow, one nephew asked, "Uncle Bill, aren't you going to put grave markers on them?" The thought of naming all those bees, let alone inscribing the names on little, granite tombstones, still gives me a chuckle.

Bill


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

*Re: Oh, I forgot to mention...*

Kids are a hoot. I'm glad we don't get much snow so my niece hasn't wanted bee graves! She did want to go about naming all of the bees, but I told her I was only going to keep up with the queens, though she was free to name as many of the others as she wanted. She comes up with interesting though sometimes bizarre names. She's 8 and was herself named for me and Tom Landry. She even names flowers sometimes. I think my favorite queen is Jezebel or Ariel.


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## bnatural (Aug 10, 2008)

Your niece is named Tom Landry? I admire The Stoic One immensely, but not sure I'd saddle a girl with that name. Unless she wore a fedora, of course.


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

bnatural said:


> Your niece is named Tom Landry? I admire The Stoic One immensely, but not sure I'd saddle a girl with that name. Unless she wore a fedora, of course.


Her name is Landry Lynn. Tom would be kinda strange (though it's also her grandfather's name), but Landry works out pretty well. And she IS a Texan. So far, no fedora wearing for her. My brother obviously admired him quite a bit...and I must say, I do also, even though he got top billing. Guess Terri Landry wouldn't have sounded the same!


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