Bees provide people with a huge number of various useful products, among which the most famous and widespread are: honey and pollen, wax and propolis, caps and royal jelly, bee venom.

Each beekeeping product differs from others in its composition and useful properties. All of them are of considerable importance to humans. Beekeeping products are widely used in folk medicine. Today they have received official recognition as medicinal products.

Honey

The main product that a person gets from bees is honey. Taking into account the development of technology, a person replaced this product with artificial honey, but natural honey cannot be replaced in terms of value and its medicinal qualities. Natural honey is full of various nutrients and vitamins. He plays a huge role in the assimilation process. There are many varieties of honey.

They differ in origin. The most common are flower and honeydew honey, sugar and sweet fruit types. In addition, honey is classified depending on the type of plant, the pollen from which the bees collected for the production of honey. Among all the variety of copper varieties, one of the best is considered to be light honey and buckwheat, dark (pollen is collected from highland meadows).

Wax

Wax is considered the second most important after the main beekeeping product - honey. It has a huge amount of bactericidal properties. Its properties have found a place in medicine. The wax is used to treat burns and cuts, skin conditions, and ulcers. Bees begin to produce wax at about 12 days of age. By this time, they have special glands that produce this product.

In order to get 1 kilogram of wax, you need at least 3.5 kilograms of honey. The wax contains over 300 chemical elements. Among them, only esters make up about 70-75 percent, carbons contain from 11 to 18 percent. In addition to the above, the wax contains mineral and aromatic substances, vitamin "A" and carotenoids. Wax is used not only in medicine, but also in cosmetology. It is included in a number of cosmetics.

Pollen

Pollen is another miracle bee product. Bees harvest it for the production of bee milk and wax, for feeding the entire bee family, collecting it from flowers. At one time, a bee brings to the hive from 8 to 10 milligrams of pollen. If honey is the first bee dish, then pollen is the second.

You cannot find such a food analogue that would be compared with pollen in terms of the concentration in the latter of the components so necessary for the human body. Pollen contains: proteins and fats, minerals and vitamins, free amino acids and enzymes.

Propolis

This bee product is obtained from non-digestible pollen shells. Bees use it as a polish or for sealing gaps in the hive.

In addition, bees disinfect the cells with it. Propolis has good bactericidal properties.

Zabrus

In terms of its medicinal qualities and composition, it is several times superior to propolis. In medicine, zabrus is widely used in the treatment of bacterial and viral diseases.

If you just chew this beekeeping product, then in a person it causes a strong salivation. This increases the secretory function of the stomach. The components that are part of the back bar improve the metabolism in the body, improve blood circulation, and increase muscle performance. It is recommended to chew this substance once a day, no more than 7-10 minutes. Due to its pleasant taste in some countries, even children chew it.

Merv

This beekeeping product is dark brown in color. It can also be in the form of a black lumpy mass.

There are two types of merva: apiary and factory. Beekeeping wax contains from 30 to 50 percent, and about 25 percent in factory wax.

Perga

Another beekeeping product is bee bread. This product contains many vitamins and enzymes, amino acids.

The biological value of this beekeeping product is enormous. Perga has antibacterial properties, as well as an anabolic that is safe for humans. In its antibiotic properties, bee bread is 3 times superior to pollen. Speaking about its nutritional values, they, in comparison with pollen, are also much higher. In addition, bee bread is much more sterile than pollen. The human body perfectly processes and assimilates it.

Podmore

And, finally, a few words about such a beekeeping product as podmore. There are various reasons why bees die. Dead bees crumble to the bottom of the hive. Podmore is formed during wintering by bees.

It is by the amount of dead wood detected in the spring that it is determined how the bees overwintered. If there is little submergence, then the wintering went well, if a lot - bad. This beekeeping product, for example in Greece, is widely used for toothaches and carbuncles, for gum disease or hair strengthening, for eye diseases. Scientists from England recommend using podmor for dropsy or abscesses, for rheumatism and abdominal cramps, for lichen disease. In addition, pomegranate is a good solvent for urinary stones.

The main products of the honey bee are honey and wax. Previously, sweet honey was used for food, wax was used to make candles, but now the range of beekeeping products has expanded significantly. In addition to honey and wax, bees began to receive royal jelly, propolis, poison, pollen and bee bread - products widely used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetics and veterinary medicine.

It is produced by bees from the nectar of flowers of entomophilous plants. Tasty and aromatic, bee honey is a highly nutritious and easily assimilated product by the human body. It is especially useful for children. Natural flower honey contains no more than 22% of water, about 75% of glucose and fructose, 5% of other substances - organic acids, plant proteins, mineral salts, vitamins and enzymes - effective therapeutic and prophylactic agents necessary for the human body.

Doctors use honey to treat skin wounds that do not heal for a long time, ulcers of the stomach, liver, respiratory tract, and nervous system. In the food and confectionery industry, honey is widely used for the preparation of sweets, gingerbread, cookies, cakes, jellies, jams, and wines. In its natural form, it is used with cereals, tea, juices, milk, cottage cheese, bread kvass, fresh apples, tomatoes and even with radishes and pickles.

By origin, honey is: floral (produced by bees from the nectar of flowers or collected from extra-flowered nectaries of entomophilous plants), honeydew (obtained as a result of the processing of honeydew or honeydew by bees, which they collect on the leaves and stems of plants), sugar (obtained by processing sugar syrup, which is fed to bees in apiaries to replenish forage reserves in hives, stimulate the development of families during the non-tipping season and in the form of medicinal feeding).

On sale, sugar honey is considered a fake, although in the process of processing bees enrich it with enzymes, pollen and some other useful substances, after which it becomes an intermediate product between natural flower honey and sugar.

Honeydew honey is considered less valuable. Compared to the flower, it contains more mineral salts and dextrins, and less sugars. Honeydew honey is not the same in color, smell and taste. Collected from deciduous trees, it has a dark brown color, light conifers. A lot of honeydew on hot days stands out on the leaves and stems of peas. The honey produced by bees from such a honeydew is cloudy and viscous, with an unpleasant smell, salty, sweet-sugary taste. Bees switch to collecting honeydew in hot weather, when nectar production stops on the flowers.

Natural honeys are monofloral, that is, collected by bees from the flowers of any one plant species (willow, raspberry, lime, buckwheat, heather), and polyfloral - from several types of plants (fruit trees and berries, meadow or field herbs, buckwheat and raspberries ). These types of honey are among the most valuable.

Depending on the method of obtaining honey, it can be: centrifugal (pumped out on a honey extractor, squeezed out of the honeycomb) and honeycomb (obtained in stores, sectional or nesting honeycomb frames). In consistency, liquid and crystallized (sugared) are distinguished. It is completely wrong when distrustful buyers consider candied honey to be sugar. By color, honey can be: transparent, white, amber, yellow, brown, light brown, dark brown, etc., depending on the color of the plants from which it is collected.

The honey pumped out of the combs crystallizes over time, partially loses its original taste and aroma. Therefore, beekeepers often harvest honey in combs for sale.

Wax

This is also a valuable product. It is produced in bees by wax mirror glands on the lower part of the abdomen and is used to build combs and queen cells, to seal honey and hold combs in a nest. On the surface of the mirrors, it protrudes through the smallest pores and, in contact with air, quickly solidifies into transparent thin plates.

The more abundant and longer the honey collection, the higher the wax release in a bee colony. Bees build new honeycombs from wax plates, gathering in clusters on the frames.

The newly rebuilt honeycomb is light yellow in color and contains about 100% pure wax. Over time, the combs darken (age). After two years of use, the nesting combs turn brown, and then, if they are not replaced in the hives, then black, heavy. The increase in the weight of combs to 250-300 g occurs mainly due to non-wax substances - residues in the cells of cocoons, which bees cannot completely remove during cleaning. Therefore, the content of wax in brown honeycomb in relation to its weight decreases to 60–70%, and in dark, opaque honeycomb - to 40–50%.

Depending on the methods of production, beeswax is divided into melted beeswax (varietal) and substandard; breakdown, obtained in factories from apiary on hydraulic presses; extraction, obtained by extracting the factory merv with gasoline vapor.

A piece of good beeswax is broken into separate pieces by the sharp end of a hammer. When broken, it has a fine-grained structure. The surface of the ingot is smooth, uniform, and shiny. The wax is extremely stable. Neither time, nor light, nor dampness change its quality. A case was recorded when beeswax lay in the ground for about 3000 years and did not lose its natural properties. In liquid form, wax has a high viscosity, which decreases with increasing temperature. Therefore, wax raw materials should be pre-boiled and squeezed out of wax at a temperature close to 100 ° C.

The highest yield of high-quality wax is obtained by separate processing of sorted sushi into light, brown and dark. Zabrus, scrapings from the bars of frames and ceilings, various superstructures of combs, in which brood did not hatch, are processed together with light dry. In the summertime, the top-quality dry land can be reheated in the solar wax refinery. All brown and dark combs must be ground before processing. Then the raw material is washed in clean, slightly warmed water. After washing, the mass is squeezed out of the remaining water, and then proceeded to boil it over a fire in an enamel or tinned dish.

For boiling wax raw materials, soft water is taken - distilled, rain or snow. It is not recommended to process wax raw materials in simple metal or galvanized dishes, since fatty acids of molten wax react with iron, which is why the wax emulsifies with water, becomes brown or gray, and its yield and quality are greatly reduced.

In a small amateur apiary, you can drain the wax in normal home conditions, for this they put the dry in an enamel bucket and cover it with a metal mesh on top. Then water is poured into the bucket and placed on the stove. Under the influence of temperature, the wax begins to melt and floats to the surface of the water, it is drained or collected with a large spoon in another dish. Hot water is again added to the remaining raw materials, mixed, boiled and the wax removed. After that, the remaining mass is wrung out through cheesecloth. A good yield of wax (70–80% of the weight of the raw material) is obtained with steam wax melters, which are sold in specialized beekeeping stores.

Royal jelly

This is a protein feed (secret), saturated with fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, mineral salts, vitamins and hormones, produced by young nurse bees for feeding larvae hatching from eggs, especially mother ones, and feeding the queen itself during the egg laying period.

Fresh royal jelly is white, slightly creamy in color, has a sharp sour taste and a slight specific smell, looks like sour cream. It contains up to 18% protein substances, 10 to 17% sugar, up to 5.5% fat, more than 1% mineral salts. The composition of proteins of royal jelly contains about 20 amino acids, it is rich in B vitamins.

How beneficial this highly concentrated protein feed is for bees is shown by the following facts. Abundantly feeding on milk, the uterine larva increases its weight three thousand times in 5–6 days of life. Nursing bees continuously supply the queen with milk, which allows her to lay more than 2.5 thousand eggs in wax cells in one day and live forty times longer than a working bee.

These facts from the life of bees were recorded by scientists and adopted by medicine. Royal jelly is widely used in the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and improves mental performance.

Propolis

It is also called bee balm. It is a resinous substance with a pleasant smell of essential oils, useful not only for bees, but also for humans. Propolis is used to heal burn wounds, calluses, teeth, respiratory tract and stomach.

The bees cover the inner walls of the dwelling with propolis so that they are strong and not destroyed, they close up the cracks, polish the cells of the combs, and shorten the entrances for wintering. As a result, a healthy microclimate is created in the hive, which protects it from putrefactive microbes. If a mouse or a lizard climbs into the hive, the bees will sting the uninvited guest. And since they cannot throw the victim out of the hive, they walled up the corpse with propolis - they embalm it, thereby saving the bee family from many troubles.

Propolis consists of resin and balsam - 50%, wax - 30%, essential oils - 10%, pollen, some other inclusions - 10%. It is rich in vitamins, microelements, has a bactericidal effect. There are two types of propolis. The first is released by bees in the form of a balsamic substance during the digestion of pollen grains of flowers, the second is brought to the hive from the buds and cracks of trees: poplar, pine, birch, sunflower and some herbs.

There are many conifers, birches, orchards in Russia. Therefore, there is no shortage of propolis for bees. On the contrary, the part of propolis taken from the hive is soon replenished by bees. Throughout the summer, it is scraped from the hive frames and ceilings, from the grooves of the hive, from the canvas. The harvested propolis is rolled into lumps, wrapped in cellophane or parchment and placed in tightly closed brown glass jars or plywood boxes.

pollen

It is a complex waste product of plants, an indispensable protein feed for bees. Pollen grains are male reproductive cells of plants, which contain a treasure of biologically active substances, useful not only for bees, plants themselves, but also for humans. Pollen contains proteins and fats, organic acids and mineral salts, trace elements and vitamins, biogenic stimulants and enzymes - more than 100 nutrients and medicinal substances, including a full set of essential amino acids. A strong bee colony collects and consumes 20–25 kg of pollen per season. With a shortage, her family develops poorly, stops building combs and does not produce marketable honey.

When visiting flowers of entomophilous plants, bees fiddle with the anthers of the stamens, sprinkle them with pollen, which is then cleaned from the body, knocked into lumps and folded into baskets of the hind legs, thus forming a pollen, convenient for transportation to the hive. To fill both baskets, the gatherer bee often has to visit hundreds of flowers, spending enormous energy on its delivery to the hive and processing. The pollen collected by bees is widely used in medicine, food industry, and in some countries and in livestock raising for breeding cattle and poultry. The pollen has a good healing effect on anemia in humans, especially in children. The systematic consumption of pollen in food improves health, protects the body from premature wear, increases appetite and performance.

It is not difficult for a beekeeper to get involved in collecting pollen. This requires special pollen traps. First, the device is suspended on the hive entrance without a working grate, which prevents the free passage of bees into the hive, and throws the forage off the baskets. Two or three days later, when the bees get used to the unusual environment for them at the entrance to the hive, the working grate is inserted into the device and the collection of pollen from the bees (pollen) begins.

In one day, in good weather, one family can get 100–150 g of a valuable product with a pollen trap, and 3-4 kg in a month. Bees bring the greatest amount of pollen in the first half of the season, when the colony is intensively increasing the brood for the main honey harvest. Before the main flow, the pollen trap is removed from the hive to allow the bees to completely switch to collecting honey.

The best time for collecting pollen from collectors is 10–11 pm (before the mass flight of drones to mate with queens). At the time of departure, they accumulate near the barred entrance and interfere with the flight work of bees. In the morning, bees bring more pollen to the hives. In the afternoon, they predominantly collect nectar. The collected pollen must be dried in a light breeze in the shade until the grains harden and stick together. In this form, pollen is packaged in cellophane bags or glass jars.

Perga

This is pollen preserved by bees. It is necessary for bees to grow brood, wax and royal jelly. The pollen brought to the hive is put into free honeycomb cells by bees, tamped down with their heads, poured on top with fresh honey and sealed with wax caps.

Under the influence of yeast fungi, bees saliva enzymes and honey, pollen, compacted in wax cells, undergoes lactic acid fermentation, after which it becomes even more nutritious for bees and can be stored in this form for a long time.

The chemical composition of bee bread is close to the chemical composition of pollen. Perge contains more sugars, mainly due to honey added by bees, and lactic acid (3-4%), formed as a result of fermentation of the mass. These components ensure its conservation and long-term preservation. Due to its high content of proteins and vitamins, bee bread is used in cosmetics, medicine and food industry.

As a beekeeping product, bee bread should not be moldy, have more than 3% impurities (wax, propolis, pieces of wood, pupae shells), above 15% moisture. Perga should retain the structure of granules, have a sweet-sour honey taste with a pleasant smell of honeycombs and bread, be brown in color with a greenish or yellowish tint.

Bee venom

This is the secret of the poisonous glands, which, together with the sting, is used by the bee against its enemies and pests. Having stung an animal or a person, the bee soon dies. As a beekeeping product, bee venom is used in medicine in the treatment of radiculitis, rheumatism, peripheral nervous system, bronchial asthma, and vascular diseases. The bee venom has a beneficial effect on the general condition of the body, improves the patient's sleep and appetite. But there are people who do not tolerate bee venom. Even single stings of bees are dangerous for them, and the smell of poison, like a crushed bee, causes a feeling of disgust and nausea. Bee venom is a colorless liquid that dries quickly in air, bitter and very pungent. The reaction of the poison is acidic, the specific gravity is 1.131, the dry matter content is 41%. The composition of bee venom includes organic compounds, free amino acids, volatile oils, enzymes, trace elements, and a number of other chemicals. Many researchers believe that the composition of bee venom is complex and not fully understood.

Natural honey is a sweet, viscous aromatic substance produced by bees from the nectar of plants, as well as from honeydew or honeydew (the sweet liquid secreted by plant cells is called honeydew, and that secreted by aphids is called honeydew). Natural honey can also appear as a crystallized mass. Products obtained by the processing of sugar or other syrup fed to them by bees do not belong to natural honey.

By its botanical origin, natural honey can be floral, paddy and mixed. Flower honey - a product of the processing of plant nectar by bees. It can be monofloral (from one plant) and polyfloral (from several plants). Honeydew honey is formed by the processing of honeydew and honeydew by bees, which they collect from the stems and leaves of plants. Mixed honey consists of a natural mixture of flower or honeydew honey. Among the floral monofloral honeys, the following varieties are most common:

Linden honey characterized by a pleasant aroma, sharp specific taste and light yellow or light amber color. In liquid form, it is transparent watery, crystals are fine-grained, fat-like or coarse-grained. Fireweed honey. It is characterized by delicate taste and aroma. In liquid form it is transparent watery, in crystallized state it is white. It crystallizes very quickly, often even in honeycombs. Crystals of fat-like or fine-grained form.

Buckwheat honey. It is characterized by a pleasant specific taste and aroma. In the liquid form, honey is dark red or brown, and in the crystallized state it is brown or dark yellow. Crystals from fine-grained to coarse-grained. The composition of minerals includes iron.

Sunflower honey. It is characterized by a specific pleasant taste and weak aroma. In liquid form, it is light golden or light amber. The crystals are coarse-grained. It crystallizes very quickly, often even in the cells of combs during the wintering of bees.

Heather honey.It is characterized by strong aroma and pleasant taste. In liquid form, honey is dark amber, sometimes with a reddish tint. It is pumped out of combs with great difficulty or not at all. It is of little use for wintering bees.

Honey with acacia. It is characterized by light transparent color, delicate aroma and pleasant taste.

Chestnut and tobacco honey. It tastes bitter and is used mainly in the food industry. The color is light (in some cases, dark).

Cotton honey. It is characterized by a peculiar taste and aroma. In liquid form it is almost colorless, and in crystallized state it is white. It crystallizes quickly, often in honeycombs, the crystals are coarse-grained.

Drunk, or poisonous, honey. Formed from nectar that bees collect from azaleas, rhododendrons and other plants in the Caucasus Mountains. When eating this honey, a person develops signs of intoxication, nausea, dizziness, and fever. With long-term storage, the toxicity of honey disappears.

Polyfloral, or mixed (prefabricated), flower honey bees collect from various plants. Usually such honey is called according to the place of its collection: mountain, meadow, forest, steppe. Sometimes such honey is dominated by honey from one or several plants, but more often in certain proportions it contains honey collected by bees from the flowers of many plants. The characteristics of mixed honey are variable. Its color can be from light yellow to dark; aroma and taste - from delicate and weak to sharp; crystallization - from fat-like to coarse-grained. Mixed honey sometimes contains honeydew impurities.

Honeydew honey is called deciduouswhen bees collect honeydew from deciduous trees (linden, aspen, oak, etc.), and coniferous, when honeydew is collected from coniferous trees (fir, spruce, pine, larch).

Blended honey are obtained by mixing different honeys to equalize their performance (color, aroma, taste). So, when a small amount of dark buckwheat is added to light fireweed honey, honey is obtained with a pleasant taste and color. Blending of honey is carried out only in the conditions of honey dispensing enterprises, if it is necessary to improve the presentation of the sold honey.

By the way of obtaining honey, it can be cellular, sectional, pressed and centrifugal... Honeycomb and sectional honey is especially highly valued. Honeycomb - this is honey, which is sold in combs of both nesting frames and semi-frames, provided that the bees did not hatch. brood in them. It is not recommended to sell honey in combs in which brood was hatched: such combs lose their presentation.

Sectional honey Is a honeycomb enclosed in special sections, the walls of which are made of thin plywood or food grade plastic. Usually the section holds 400-500 g of honey.

Pressed honey are obtained only when it is not possible to pump it out in a honey extractor. This honey usually includes honey collected by bees from heather. When pressing (squeezing) this honey, the beekeeper is forced to spoil the rebuilt benign combs.

Centrifugal honey - this is honey pumped out of combs at a honey extractor. The properties of honey, its taste and smell do not change.

Composition of honey. Honey consists of water (16-21%) and dry substances, among which sugars predominate (up to 75%). In some cases, when honey is used for industrial processing and public catering, the water content in it is allowed up to 25%.

The sugars found in honey include glucose, fructose, sucrose. Glucose (grape sugar) in honey contains up to 35%. It belongs to simple sugars, crystallizes quickly, is easily absorbed by the human body without additional splitting.

Fructose (fruit sugar) in honey contains about 35%. It crystallizes poorly, and is well absorbed by the human body. The more fructose in honey, the slower it crystallizes, and vice versa. Fructose is a simple sugar.

Sucrose (cane sugar) is a disaccharide. It contains glucose and fructose. The sucrose content in mature honey does not exceed 7%. The amount of dextrins (starch decomposition products) in honey does not exceed 3-4%. They dissolve in water, which makes them different from starch. Dextrins prevent honey crystallization.

The composition of honey contains proteins (0.04-0.30%) of both vegetable (from plant nectar) and animal origin (from the body of bees). Honey contains up to 0.43% acids. Organic acids predominate, of which the greatest amount is malic, much less citric, oxalic and lactic. Of inorganic acids, hydrochloric and phosphoric are found in honey.

The activity of honey acids ranges from 3.26 to 4.36 (average 3.78). The value of active acidity is important for the enzymatic processes in honey, the taste of honey and its bactericidal properties depend on it.

The composition of honey includes enzymes invertase, diastase, lipase and catalase.

The aromatic substances of honey depend on the plants from which the bees bring nectar to the hive. The aroma of the plants is transferred to the honey. Dyes give honey one color or another.

The composition of honey contains from 0.03 to 0.2% of minerals. These are potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, much less aluminum, copper, manganese, lead and zinc.

Souring of honey and its warning. With an increased water content in honey, it cannot be stored for a long time, as it will sour. This process can also occur in mature honey if stored in a moist place. Honey can absorb moisture, which increases its water content.

With high air humidity and high water content, honey turns sour under the influence of the yeast contained in it and the enzymes secreted by them. In this case, the sugars of honey decompose, forming wine alcohol and emitting carbon dioxide. Under the influence of bacteria, wine alcohol is oxidized and it turns into acetic acid. If honey fermentation has begun, then it can be stopped by warming up to 60 ° C for 30 minutes. When storing honey, the most favorable temperature for its fermentation is 14–20 ° C. At lower or higher temperatures (from 4.4 ° to 10 ° C and from 20 ° to 27 ° C), only unripe honey, containing more than 21% water, turns sour. Ripe honey does not sour at this temperature. At temperatures below 4.4 ° C and above 30 ° C, even honey with high humidity does not sour.

Crystallization of honey and its prevention. Crystallization of honey is the process of precipitation of crystals, that is, the transition of honey from a liquid to a solid state. At the same time, the quality of honey does not change or deteriorate. The rate of honey crystallization depends both on the botanical composition of the plants from which it is collected, as well as on the ambient air temperature and the quality of the combs (there may be residues of crystallized honey in the cells of the combs, which accelerates the crystallization process).

Honey collected from various plants contains an unequal amount of grape sugar (glucose), and the more it is in honey, the faster crystallization proceeds. An example is sunflower honey, which often crystallizes already in combs.

To accelerate the crystallization of liquid honey, you can add a small amount of crystallized honey to it. By their structure, honey crystals can be coarse-grained, fine-grained and fat-like. Coarse-grained honey crystals (crystal size more than 0.5 mm) are formed at a low crystallization rate. Adding crystallized honey to liquid honey prevents the formation of coarse-grained crystals. The faster the crystallization of honey, the smaller its crystals. Fat-like crystallization occurs when honey is stored at an air temperature of about 14 ° C, as well as when a large amount of crystallized honey is added to liquid honey.

If necessary, to prevent the crystallization of honey or to straighten the crystallized honey, it is heated to a temperature of 40–41 ° C. At this temperature, the crystals of glucose contained in honey dissolve. It is impossible to boil honey, as its quality (taste and color) deteriorates and the caramelization process takes place: the transformation of the invented sugar into more complex carbohydrates, vitamins and enzymes are destroyed.

Purification of honey. The honey pumped out of combs often contains pieces of combs, pollen, larvae, bee corpses and other mechanical impurities. For purification, honey is filtered through a special sieve (or filter) made of a tinned metal mesh that allows honey to pass through and retains mechanical impurities. When unrefined honey is poured into tanks, it is allowed to settle for several days. In this case, impurities float up and are removed with a scoop.

Ripening of honey. When pumping out insufficiently mature honey, it becomes necessary to ripen it, that is, to reduce the percentage of water to a level of no more than 21%. Before ripening, honey is poured into special sedimentation tanks (tanks) with a large surface area. Honey is stored in honeydeep tanks for a long time, during which part of the moisture evaporates from it and at the same time the effect of enzymes on sugars continues. The more honey is stored in sedimentation tanks, the more it matures and the better its quality will be. The room where honey ripens should be dry and well ventilated.

Honeydew honey

Honeydew honey consists of fructose (37%), glucose (31%), sucrose (1-16%), dextrins (11%), proteins (3%), acids, minerals, it contains an average of 0.7%, the total acidity of honey is about 2.5. The color of honeydew honey is varied: from light amber (from conifers) to dark (from deciduous plants). In the cells of combs, honeydew honey most often has a greenish color. Its viscosity is much higher than that of the flower. The taste is specific, sometimes unpleasant. With an insignificant honeydew content, honey tastes little different from flower honey.

Unlike flower honeydew honey contains an increased amount of mineral salts, dextrins, nitrogenous and other substances that negatively affect the body of bees. Honeydew honey does not harm the human body. It is widely used in the confectionery industry.

Honeydew honey, like flower honey, is sealed by bees in honeycombs, and after pumping it crystallizes. Crystals of its various forms - from fat-like to coarse-grained. In most cases, this honey crystallizes slowly, which gave rise to an erroneous conclusion about the absence of crystallization and sugaring in honeydew honey. The aroma of honeydew honey is weak, and sometimes it is absent at all.

Honey obtained from honeydew has a distinctive smell and a peculiar, sometimes bitter taste. In terms of sweetness, it resembles flower honey, but differs from it in a higher content of acids, dextrins, mineral and protein substances.

Honeydew honey is prepared in the same way as flower honey, but when it is packaged, the inscription "Honeydew honey" is made on the container. There are no restrictions on honeydew honey harvesting.

Organoleptic evaluation. The quality of the product is determined organoleptically (examination with the help of the senses) and laboratory-chemical methods. Organoleptic evaluation does not always allow determining the naturalness of honey, but it is more accessible. The quality of honey is precisely determined when it is examined in a laboratory. Organoleptically determine the color, smell, taste, viscosity of honey. Freshly pumped honey is a viscous syrupy liquid. The viscosity of honey depends both on the degree of its maturity and on the type of plants from which it is harvested. The color of honey is different - from almost transparent to dark. The aroma is specific honey.

Honey crystallizes a few months after its pumping, sometimes much earlier. Almost all natural honeys are crystallized in autumn and winter. An exception is honey collected by bees from white acacia, which may not crystallize for a long time (until winter). Honey from some other plants may not crystallize for up to a year or more. If in winter, under normal storage conditions, honey remains liquid, then this indicates either its falsification, or strong heating. You need to know that sometimes counterfeit honey can crystallize.

It is difficult to judge its naturalness by the color of honey. Natural honey tends to taste sweet. Overheated honey can have a burnt taste, and spoiled honey from improper storage takes on an alcoholic aftertaste. Sludge and foaming of honey indicate its fermentation.

To establish the falsification of honey using starch syrup, take 5 g of honey and dissolve it in 10 ml of distilled water. The resulting solution is heated in a water bath to about 90 ° C and a few drops of a saturated aqueous solution of tannin are added. Then the solution is cooled for several minutes, filtered and 2 ml is poured into a test tube, where then 2 drops of hydrochloric acid (specific gravity 1.19) are added. The resulting mixture is stirred and 20 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol are added thereto. If, when shaking the resulting solution, an abundant milky-white precipitate appears, it means that the tested honey is falsified with starch syrup.

Determination of artificially hydrolyzed sucrose. Take 5–7 g of honey and mix it in a porcelain cup with 15–20 ml of sulphurous (diethyl) ether, which is infused with granular calcium chloride (150 g of calcium per 1 liter of ether) for 24 hours. The honey solution is stirred for 1–2 minutes, and then the ether layer is poured into a clean porcelain cup. After the ether has evaporated, 2-3 drops of a 1% solution of resorcinol in 36% hydrochloric acid are added to the residue and everything is thoroughly mixed with a glass rod. If within the first 2 minutes the solution turns cherry-red or a red precipitate falls out, then the honey is falsified. The gradual appearance of an orange color indicates a strong heating of honey (melting of crystallized honey), in which its valuable properties are lost, and the quality is deteriorated.

Determination of reducing sugars and sucrose.The essence of this method is to determine the optical density of a solution of ferricyanide (red blood salt), which reacts with the reducing sugars of honey. This test method involves the determination of honey sugars before and after inversion.

Before the test, a solution of red blood salt is prepared, for which 10 g of iron-cyanide potassium (red blood salt) is dissolved in a 1000 ml flask with distilled water. Water is added to the mark. Then a methyl orange solution is prepared, for which 0.02 g of orange methyl is dissolved in 10 ml of hot distilled water and, after cooling, the solution is filtered. A standard invert sugar solution is also required for testing. For these purposes, take 0.381 g previously, for three days, dried in a desiccator of sucrose or refined sugar. They are placed in a 200 g volumetric flask and diluted with distilled water so that the total amount of the solution is not more than 100 ml. Then 5 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid is added to the solution, a thermometer is lowered into the flask and the flask with the solution is placed in a water bath heated to 80–82 ° C. The solution in the flask is heated to 67–70 ° C and kept at this temperature for 5 minutes. Then the flask with the solution is quickly cooled to 20 ° C, a drop of a methyl orange solution is added to the solution, neutralized with a 25% alkali solution, distilled water is added to the mark (up to 200 g) and mixed thoroughly.

Determination of the content of reducing substances (sugar before inversion). 2 g of honey is dissolved in a flask with distilled water (flask capacity 100 ml), 10 ml - also 100 ml and brought to the mark. It turns out a working solution of honey.

Then, 20 ml of a solution of red blood salt, 5 ml of 2.5 N HCI are poured into a flask with a capacity of 250 ml. caustic alkali and 10 ml of honey working solution. The solution is brought to a boil and boiled for 1 minute, after which it is quickly cooled and the optical density is determined using a photocolorimeter.

The most accurate results are obtained with optical density values \u200b\u200bin the range of 0.15-0.8 mm. Therefore, if other values \u200b\u200bof optical density are obtained, the determination is repeated, correspondingly changing the amount of the test solution added to the red blood salt.

Determination of total sugar content (sugar after inversion). Take with a pipette 20 ml of the working solution of honey and pour it into a flask with a capacity of 200 ml. To this add 80 ml of distilled water, and then 5 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid.

The inversion is carried out in the same way as above (preparation of a standard invert sugar solution).

The determination of the total sugar content after inversion is carried out in the same way as the determination of sugar before the inversion.

where Q1 is the amount of reducing substances (sugar before inversion) found from the calibration graph, mg.

where Q2 is the amount of total sugars found according to the calibration graph, mg.

The arithmetic mean of the results of two simultaneous tests is taken as the final test result. Moreover, the discrepancy between these two tests should not exceed 0.5%.

The amount of sucrose (S) in percent is determined by the difference between the amount of reducing sugars according to the formula: S \u003d X2 - X1.

100/100 - W

Determination of the water content of honey. With an increased water content in honey, it quickly sours and is unsuitable for long-term storage.

The most accurate determination of the percentage of water in honey can be done using an RDU or RL refractometer. For the analysis, you need a water bath with an electric heater, a mercury thermometer with a graduation of 1 °, which allows you to measure temperatures from 0 to 100 ° C, glass tubes 30–40 mm high and 7 mm in diameter. Liquid honey is used to determine the water content. If it crystallizes, it is dissolved. Place 1 cm3 of honey in a test tube and close it with a rubber stopper. A test tube with honey is placed in a water bath and heated at 60 ° C until the honey crystals are completely dissolved.

A drop of liquid honey is applied to the refractometer prism and the refractive index is determined. It is substituted into the formula and the refractive index is calculated at 20 ° C.

p20d \u003d ptd + 0.00023 (t-20),

where n20d is the value of the refractive index at a temperature of 20 ° C; пtd is the value of the refractive index at the temperature of the study; 20 - test temperature 20 ° C; 0.00023 - temperature coefficient of the refractive index; t is the temperature at which the water content of honey was determined.

Having determined the refractive index, calculate the water content in honey as a percentage using the formula:

W \u003d 400 (1.538 - p20d),

where W is the percentage of water in honey; 400 and 1.538 are constant coefficients; n20d is the value of the refractive index at 20 ° C.

If measurements are carried out at a temperature of 20 ° C, then to determine honey, use the readout data on the refractometer scale and table No. 1.

If the determination is carried out at a temperature below or above 20 ° C, then a correction is introduced for each degree Celsius: for a temperature above 20 °, add 0.00023 to the refractive index, for a temperature below 20 °, subtract 0.00023 from the refractive index.

Allowable discrepancies between the results of control determinations should not exceed 0.1%.

Determination of the water content of honey by its density. A simple way that can be used in apiary conditions. The density of honey, that is, the ratio of mass to volume, depends on the water content of the honey. The less water, the higher the density of honey. A glass dry jar with a capacity of 1 liter is weighed on a balance. Distilled water is poured to the top and a mark is made on the glass at the lower meniscus. The jar of water is weighed and the water is poured out. The weight of water is determined by the difference in weight between dry and filled cans. After drying the jar, fill it with honey to the same level as the water was poured, and weighed again. Determine the mass of honey. Dividing the mass of honey by the mass of water, find the density of honey and establish its water content according to the table (Table No. 2).

Physical and chemical properties of wax. Wax color.To build their nest, consisting of combs, bees produce wax in wax glands. Standing out from the body of the bee in liquid form, it freezes on wax mirrors in the form of plates. The wax that has just been isolated by bees has a white color, later it acquires a yellow color, which is given to it by various propolis-like substances.

When processing raw wax, the color of the resulting wax depends on the quality and method of processing. If freshly built honeycombs are reheated, then light yellow wax is obtained, dark yellow and brown wax is melted from dark combs. From strong overheating or contact with metals (dishes), the wax darkens when overheating. The color of the wax also changes from impurities of pollen, propolis, etc.

The composition of the wax. About 50 different chemical compounds are part of the wax, among them are esters (up to 75%), which practically do not enter into chemical reactions with other substances, with the exception of alkali, saturated hydrocarbons (12-15%) are the simplest organic substances, free fatty acids (13-15%), which react with metals and some alkalis, which deteriorates the quality of the wax and its color. The wax also contains dyes and aromas.

Properties of wax. The main indicators characterizing the properties of wax are its density, melting and pour point, hardness, viscosity, solubility, relationship with metals.

The density of the wax at a temperature of 15 ° C is 0.956-0.970. It decreases at the same time as the ambient temperature rises. By the density value, various falsifications of natural wax can be determined. The melting point (61–63 ° C), that is, the transition from solid to liquid, and pour point help to determine the falsification of the wax. The higher the melting point, the better the quality of the wax.

The hardness of the wax (no more than 6.5) is of great importance in the manufacture of foundation, which is produced only from wax with increased hardness. To determine the hardness of the wax, the hardness coefficient is used - the time of passage of a needle having a cross section of 1.5 mm2 under the action of a load weighing 1 kg to a depth of 1 mm. The highest coefficient of hardness is for kapan wax, it is lower for pressed wax and the lowest for extraction wax.

Solubility of wax. Wax dissolves only in fatty and essential oils, gasoline, turpentine, carbon disulfide. It can be easily mixed with paraffin, various fats, etc. The wax is almost insoluble in alcohol and completely insoluble in glycerin and water.

Wax can form an emulsion (the state of a wax when it is finely crushed and dispersed in a liquid substance such as water). For the formation of an emulsion, the presence of a third substance is necessary, which promotes its formation and is called an emulsifier. They can be metals, soap, bee bread, hard water salts. In the practice of beekeeping, two forms of emulsion are known. Emulsion of the first form, or "water in wax". In this case, the wax contains up to 2.5% water. The wax is almost indistinguishable in appearance from non-emulsified wax. This form of emulsion is formed by melting wax under the action of steam in a bowl of boiling water. At the same time, the mass of wax increases, the color brightens. This is because some of the water is trapped between the wax particles. The moisture content of the wax characterizes its hardness and quality. The lower the moisture content of the wax and the less water it contains, the higher its hardness and better quality.

When an emulsion of the first form occurs, the structure of the wax does not change; a foundation made from such wax is cloudy, its strength is insignificant. When the emulsified wax melts, foam appears on its surface. Eliminate the emulsion by heating the wax (without water access). At a heating temperature of 85–95 ° C, the wax is kept for 6-10 hours, at a temperature of 120 ° C - 30 minutes, at a temperature of 140 ° C - 4–5 minutes.

An emulsion of the second form, or "wax in water", occurs when the wax raw material is processed in an iron pot or in hard water, as well as when the wax contains a large amount of bee bread. At the same time, the wax becomes loose, porous, it looks like a perga-like mass and loses its structure homogeneity. After the overheated wax hardens, a loose gray layer forms at the bottom.

To prevent the formation of an emulsion of the second form, it is necessary to process the wax raw material in soft (rain or river) water and not to overheat the wax in well water, which has a high hardness.

Interaction of wax with metals. When the wax raw material is melted in a metal dish, the free fatty acids contained in the wax interact with certain types of metal to form salts. In this case, the quality of the resulting wax deteriorates, and the color changes. When melted in cast iron or iron dishes, the wax turns brown, in copper dishes it turns green. Cookware made of tinplate and tinned iron does not cause a significant deterioration in the quality of the wax. To maintain high quality in the processing of wax raw materials, dishes made of food-grade aluminum, stainless steel, tinned iron, tinplate, as well as enameled (without damaging the enamel) and wood are used. It is not allowed to overheat raw materials in copper, cast iron and iron dishes.

Cleaning and bleaching of wax. Various substances contained in the raw wax (pollen, etc.) contribute to the formation of emulsion and contamination of the wax. When the molten wax solidifies, these substances remain in it and spoil its quality, they are removed by repeated melting of the wax, followed by its slow solidification. In order for the wax to harden slowly, the melted wax tank is insulated. Substances contaminating the wax are deposited to the bottom of the tank or located on the underside of the wax ingot, from where they are then removed.

Very dirty wax can be cleaned and lightened with concentrated sulfuric acid, which is added in an amount of 5 to 30 ml for every 10 kg of wax. Acid is poured into molten wax, which has a temperature of at least 70 ° C. There should be water under the wax, the volume of which is 3-4 times the volume of the wax. After adding the acid, the wax is thoroughly mixed, and then allowed to settle for at least 5 hours. The dark wax turns yellow.

When cleaning and bleaching wax with sulfuric acid, take wooden dishes, try to prevent acid from getting on clothes and body. Do not pour melted wax into a dish containing sulfuric acid. The melted wax will be immediately splashed out of the cookware, which could lead to an accident. The quality of the wax when it is bleached with sulfuric acid deteriorates, it becomes brittle, the foundation made from it loses its strength. Good results are obtained by bleaching wax in the sun, for which it is preliminarily crushed and then reheated in a solar wax melter.

A gray coating appears on wax and foundation after long-term storage. The quality of their plaque does not deteriorate. Remove gray deposits by warming the wax or foundation to a temperature of 36–47 ° C.

Beeswax classification. Beeswax, obtained by melting combs, wax scraps and lids, is called beeswax. The wax obtained during the factory processing of beekeepers, merv and other raw materials is classified as industrial wax. The color of beeswax can be from white to light yellow and gray. Manufacturing wax should not be darker than light brown. Unlike beeswax, it has a specific smell.

Beekeeping wax is subdivided into varietal and non-standard. High-quality wax has a light yellow, white, yellow, dark yellow and gray color, a natural waxy smell, a homogeneous structure, and inhomogeneity of color, the content of mechanical impurities is allowed in the ingot.

Organoleptic evaluation. The quality of the wax, when various waxy substances are added to it, deteriorates, the manufacture of foundation from it becomes difficult, often it becomes unsuitable for its adjustment by bees. The organoleptic method for assessing the quality of wax allows to determine the content of various impurities by the appearance of the ingot, structure, nature of break and cut, smell, color, taste, fragility and other indicators. The organoleptic quality of beeswax must be checked for each ingot of wax. All bars to be checked are split in half.

Smell. Beeswax has a honey or honey-propolis smell. Rosin, stearin, ceresin and paraffin added to it give it a specific smell characteristic of these substances.

Wax ingot shape. An ingot of natural wax has a flat or slightly concave surface and is easily cracked when struck with a hammer. If paraffin is added to the wax, the surface of the ingot is concave. A hammer blow does not split it, but forms a dent around which the ingot brightens slightly.

The nature of the break and cut. On the broken ingot of natural beeswax, a fine-crystalline structure is clearly visible.

If paraffin is added to the wax, individual crystals will be clearly visible in the broken ingot.

Natural wax has a matte cut, but if paraffin, ceresin or rosin is added to the wax, then this cut will be smooth and shiny.

Brittleness of wax. When paraffin or stearin is added to the wax, it becomes more brittle than natural wax.

The nature of the shavings. If paraffin is added to the wax, then its shavings crumble, and when ceresin is added, it becomes brittle.

If you knead wax with added paraffin, you feel greasy, a piece of natural wax becomes plastic.

You can chew a piece of wax to determine the quality. If at the same time the wax sticks to the teeth, then it contains impurities of stearin, rosin or lard. Natural wax does not stick to teeth.

Laboratory chemical assessment. To check the quality of beeswax, ingots are taken from packed bags or boxes. The number of ingots selected for analysis is indicated in table No. 3

Determination of the naturalness of the wax by density. This method is based on the difference in density between natural and fake wax. The admixture of paraffin or ceresin reduces the density compared to natural wax.

The impurity in the wax is determined by dipping two pieces into strong wine alcohol: a falsified one and a natural one. Then the alcohol is diluted with water until the falsified piece floats up. In this case, natural wax will remain at the bottom.

A piece of the wax under study is dipped into this solution of alcohol with a strength of about 44 °. If it sinks to the bottom, it means that the wax is natural, and if it floats up, it is fake. It is not recommended to store the alcohol solution for a long time, as it evaporates and its density changes. Table 4 shows the properties of various substances most often mixed with wax.

Determination of stearin and paraffin impurities using Büchner test. 100 cm3 of alcohol is poured into a beaker with a capacity of 500 ml, after which the beaker is placed in a hot water bath. Then caustic potassium in the amount of 28 g is carefully added to the alcohol, mixed thoroughly until it is completely dissolved. The saturated solution is placed in a dark place and, after settling and cooling, the solution is poured into a yellow glass jar, then two pieces of wax weighing 0.5-1.0 g are placed in a test tube, 5 ml of an alcoholic alkali solution is added, brought to a boil over an alcohol lamp and boiled 23 minutes. If small fat globules form throughout the solution, which, after cooling, collect on the surface in the form of a fat ring, it means that the test wax contains an admixture of paraffin or ceresin. If the wax dissolves and the solution remains transparent, then there are no impurities in it. During the analysis, great care must be taken to avoid droplets of alkali from getting on the skin of the hands or clothing. When the solution boils, it can be thrown out of the test tube, so when boiling it is held with the hole away from you.

Determination of stearin impurity using lime water. Lime water is poured into a glass test tube and wax shavings are placed. The solution is heated to the melting point of the wax, while the contents of the tube are slightly shaken.

Cloudiness of the solution indicates the presence of stearin wax in the sample.

Determination of rosin impurity using acetic anhydride. A small amount of acetic anhydride is poured into a glass test tube or flask, and 1 g of wax is also placed here. The flask or test tube is heated until the wax dissolves, removed from the heat and, after cooling the solution, one drop of 63% sulfuric acid is added to it. A red or blue-violet color of the solution, turning into a yellow-red color, indicates an admixture of rosin in the wax. Determination of stearin and lard impurities using borax. 6–8 ml of saturated borax solution is poured into a flask and 2 g of wax are placed here. The solution is boiled for 1 minute, cooled. When the wax contains stearin or fat impurities, the liquid looks like milky turbidity. If the solution becomes slightly cloudy and the wax floats to its surface, then the test wax sample is natural.

Wax raw materials, from which wax is obtained, include both freshly built and black honeycombs, lids cuts to be discarded, wax superstructures cleaned from wooden blocks of frames, etc. which also contains a significant amount of wax (up to 50%). The carcasses are processed in wax processing plants.

The composition of the wax raw material. The wax raw material contains wax, as well as soluble (larval food, honey) and water-insoluble (bee bread, cocoons) non-wax substances. Water-soluble substances in wax raw materials are 20-25% less than insoluble ones.

The content of non-wax substances in the wax raw material affects its waxiness. The less of these substances in the raw material, the higher the waxiness of the wax and the more and better quality wax is obtained when processing raw materials. To obtain the greatest amount of wax from the wax raw material, it is necessary to remove soluble substances and thereby increase its waxiness. The wax raw material is soaked in cold water, while the soluble non-wax components are removed from the raw material.

A grade of raw wax. Depending on the percentage of wax, the raw material (cut honeycomb) is divided into three grades.

First grade - waxiness of wax raw materials 70% or more. This variety includes dry white, amber or yellow, well-translucent combs that do not contain honey and bee bread.

The second grade - the wax content of the raw material of this grade is 55–70%. This variety includes dry dark and dark brown honeycombs, translucent in the bottoms, containing no remnants of honey, bee bread and other impurities, as well as those combs of the first grade, which contain up to 15% bee bread by volume.

The third grade has a wax content of 40–55%. This variety includes light honeycombs with a significant amount of bee bread, dark brown, black dry, opaque honeycombs, not affected by moths and mold and not containing honey.

Raw materials that do not meet the requirements of the first, second and third grade are classified as furnaces.

Its moisture content depends on the waxiness of the wax raw material. The more non-wax substances in it, the higher the moisture content of the raw material. This is because bee bread, honey and cocoons absorb moisture. If the wax raw material contains more than 10% moisture, it begins to mold and heat up, which reduces its waxiness and reduces the wax yield during processing. The moisture content of the wax raw materials of the first grade is 0.1–0.5%, the second is 0.5–2.2%, and the third is 2.2–3.8%.

Storage of wax raw materials. Wax raw materials deteriorate during long-term storage. By absorbing moisture, it quickly grows moldy. In addition, it is heavily affected by the wax moth. For these reasons, its waxiness is significantly reduced and the wax yield during processing is reduced. The raw materials are stored in a dry, well-ventilated room, inaccessible to bees and mice. If the air temperature is less than 10 ° C, then additional processing of the wax raw material is not done, since at this temperature the wax moth does not develop.

When storing wax raw materials in a room with a higher temperature, it is strongly compacted. In this case, it is less affected by the wax moth. But in this way, only dry raw materials can be stored in warm weather. Wet wax raw materials of the second and third grade are stored in a thin layer. With strong compaction, beekeepers can self-heat; therefore, raw materials and merv can be stored for a long time in a dry state.

The room where wax raw materials are stored is disinfected with sulfur vapor (50 g of sulfur are burned per 1 m3) or formalin (50 mg per 1 m3).

Recycling wax in a solar wax mill. The principle of operation of the solar wax melter is that the baking sheet of the wax melter is heated to 70 ° C under the influence of sunlight passing through the glass. The wax material located on the baking sheet melts and flows through the grate into a trough, at the bottom of which water is poured.

The grate is cleaned from time to time, since its hole is clogged with furnaces. For greater heating of the baking sheet, the wax melter is installed so that the sun's rays fall on it perpendicularly. Wax raw materials of the first grade are processed at this wax factory. Every day, in sunny weather, it can be used to melt up to 45 kg of wax. Wax raw materials of the second and third grade should not be processed in a solar wax melting plant, since it has a reduced waxiness and the release of wax from it will be insignificant.

Processing of raw wax using a steam wax melter. The VTP steam wax melter is designed for small apiaries. The raw wax is placed in the inner tank of the wax melter. Water is poured between the walls of the outer and inner tanks, the wax melter is closed with a lid and placed on a heat source. After boiling water, steam through the holes in the walls goes into the inner tank and melts the wax raw material. The melted wax, along with the water, flows down through the tube. The productivity of these wax mills is low.

The VT-11 wax refinery is designed for processing wax raw materials in large apiaries. At the same time, the honeycombs are not cut out of the frames. They are hung on hangers inside the body of the wax refinery, between the walls of which water is poured. The lid of the wax melter is screwed up and a fire is made under the body. When the water boils, steam enters the inner case and melts the wax raw material, after which the melted wax flows through the faucet along with water into the placed dish. The steam wax melter ensures the melting of raw materials in an apiary of 150 bee colonies. The output of wax from one honeycomb is 110–130 g. Raw materials of the second and third grade are processed on it. When the wax is melted in this way, the frames are simultaneously disinfected under the influence of high temperature.

The carcasses obtained after melting the wax raw material are thoroughly dried and then handed over to procurement points. Processing of wax on an apiary wax press. Due to the fact that the wax raw material contains a large amount of non-wax components, it is first soaked in water for a day. In this case, part of the non-wax components dissolves and the waxiness of the raw material increases. Then the raw material is placed in a tank, filled with soft (rain or river) water and boiled. The boiling of the softened mass is maintained for 20-30 minutes until the raw material turns into a soft slurry. Dark honeycombs and melts obtained in the wax refinery are boiled for up to 2 hours.

After boiling the wax raw material, it is pressed on a wax press. A burlap bag is placed in the body of the wax press and boiled raw materials are poured into it with a scoop. Then the bag is untied and the wax-press screw handle is slowly rotated, gradually increasing the pressure. If you immediately press on a bag with boiled wax raw material with great force, then the burlap can burst and the mushy mass of raw materials is mixed with the squeezed wax. If the wax hardens on the surface of the burlap, then a small amount of hot water is poured into the wax press and the screw pressure is increased. The squeezed wax flows down into the dish placed under the press.

The merv remaining after the wringing out of the wax contains up to 60–70% water and 30–40% wax. the beginning of it is placed in a thin layer on a sheet of plywood, carefully dried, and then handed over to waxing points.

To improve the quality of the pressed wax, it is necessary that the molten wax cools down as slowly as possible. In this case, mechanical impurities (cocoons, pollen, dirt) will settle to the bottom or solidify from the bottom side of the ingot, from where they can be easily cleaned off.

Processing of raw wax on a filter centrifuge. At large beekeeping farms, wax raw materials of all varieties are reheated on a TV-600-N filter centrifuge. The same centrifuge is used to process heats and beekeeper,

Obtained by melting wax on steam and solar waxes and wax press. At the same time, up to 230 g of wax can be obtained from 1 kg of secondary wax raw materials. Centrifuges also clean the wax and reheat the emulsified wax.

The filtering centrifuge consists of an electric motor, a frame, a rotor, a casing with a cover, a column, and a system for turning on and off the machine. The rotor of the honey extractor is connected to a dead bottom and an annular bead designed for loading wax raw materials and unloading wax. The inside of the rotor is lined with filter material made of metal sieve or cloth. In addition to the bottom and side, the centrifuge rotor is connected to a shaft mounted on a frame suspended on three rods with a spring shock absorber. The rotor is closed from above by a casing having a cover with an opening through which the feed pipe passes. Wax raw materials, merv or melts are heated before being processed in a centrifuge and then poured into a rotor. After turning on the motor, the rotor begins to rotate, after which hot steam is supplied to it, melting the wax. When the rotor rotates, a centrifugal force is generated, under the action of which the molten wax through the filtering surface enters the receiving casings. The impurities present in the wax are retained and accumulated on the filter sieve. These impurities are manually removed from the rotor after stopping the centrifuge. The wax in the molten state, together with hot water, during the operation of the centrifuge, flows into a container located next to the centrifuge.

The electric motor driving the centrifuge rotor has a power of 2.8 kW. Power supply from a 220/380 V network. Rotor diameter 600 mm, height 350 mm, maximum rotor speed 1440 per minute. Rotor capacity up to 45 liters. The centrifuge is serviced by one worker.

Wax cleaning using the OSD-500 separator. On large beekeeping farms, wax emulsions are purified and separated using the OSD-500 separator, which is also used in the dairy industry.

Separator components: bed, drum, tachometer, intake and drive mechanism. The cover and the base of the drum are interconnected by means of a tightening ring, the tightness of the connection is ensured by a rubber sealing ring.

There is a cymbal holder and a cymbal pack inside the drum. The tray holder and trays have matching holes that form vertical channels. The receiving device consists of a receiving chamber with floats that regulate the level of molten wax, a feeding tube entering the central cavity of the plate holder, a wax receiver, and a waste receiver. Both receivers have branch pipes.

The oil bath is located at the bottom of the bed. The frame is closed from above with a take-off device. A drum, a spindle with supports and a horizontal shaft are located inside the bed.

The molten wax flows by gravity into the float chamber, from which through the holes in the tray holder and trays, it is distributed in a thin layer in the inter-tray gaps. In this case, under the action of centripetal acceleration, the wax is cleaned. Since the separator is an open-use unit, it is periodically stopped to remove sediment.

A separator drum with a diameter of 400 mm makes up to 6.5 thousand revolutions per minute, engine power 4 kW, power supply from an electric current with a voltage of 220/380 V. 600 kg of wax is cleaned on the separator in 1 hour. It is served by one worker.

Foundation. Foundation is used to build honeycombs by bees. It is made at wax factories from high-quality melted beeswax. It has a white, light yellow or yellow color and a pleasant waxy smell. The sheet of foundation is made of rectangular shape, of uniform thickness, so that the foundation shines through equally over the entire surface of the sheet. Foundation without mechanical damage is allowed for sale.

Manufacturing of industrial

refined sugar

To understand the different values \u200b\u200bof sugar and honey, you need to understand how industrial sugar is made and how it affects the human body. You can read the following about the receipt and composition of sugar: “Sugar in a broad sense means low molecular weight carbohydrates; in a narrow sense - a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose, obtained from the juice of sugar cane, sugar beet and other sugar-containing plants and fruits, which has a sweet taste and high nutritional value.

Obtaining: sugar beets with a sugar content of about 15.5% are cut into small shavings and salted in a battery of several diffusers according to the principle of counterflow with warm water. The pulp is processed into livestock feed. A syrup with 13-15% sugar also contains salts, pectins and proteins; to remove these impurities, lime is added to it, the soluble components of which are precipitated by carbon dioxide in saturators in the form of insoluble carbonate. After filtration, lime is again added to the clear syrup, saturates at 100 ° C and filtered again. The resulting liquid syrup is concentrated in multistage evaporators to a sugar content of 50-60% (thick syrup). The thick syrup is then filtered and concentrated in vacuo; the sugar begins to crystallize. With the further addition of a thick syrup and evaporation, a mass is obtained, consisting of 75% crystals and 25% of syrup. In the centrifuges, the syrup is drained; the product thus obtained is raw sugar. The second crystallization sugar is obtained from the centrifuged syrup; at the same time, the outflow of the syrup still contains a fairly large amount of sugar and is fed to livestock or, by fermentation, is processed into yeast, alcohol, lactic, butyric and citric acids and glycerin. Sometimes the molasses is desugared again, and with the help of strontium hydroxide, the strontium saccharate is precipitated, which can be subjected to de-sugaring again. White sugar is made from yellowish raw sugar by refining. For this, the syrup adhering to the sugar is removed by treatment with a pure concentrated sugar solution and washing with water in a centrifuge. From the white sugar obtained in this way, as a result of redissolution, treatment with lime, carbon dioxide, bleaching agents and subsequent crystallization, finally, pure sugar comes out. Under the name "refined sugar", pure lump sugar is marketed along with less pure sugar - semi-refined sugar and coarse-crystalline candy sugar. The technology for the production of sugar from sugar cane cultivated in tropical regions and containing 12-18% sugar is not much different from the production of sugar from sugar beet. "

The energy-intensive long-term processing of such typical monocultures as sugar beets and sugar cane leads to the fact that valuable components from them disappear, and only denatured high-calorie refined sugar remains. In fact, it is a “by-product”, but thanks to the advertising of sugar and sugar-processing industry products, it is sold as a complete food product. Every citizen of the Russian Federation consumes on average 120-160 grams of sugar per day. You can count yourself with your friends and children. 100 g of sugar contains approximately 360 kcal. An adult engaged in light work (the Russian nomenclature, employees of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, teachers, doctors, judges, prosecutors, bailiffs) needs 1,800-2,500 kcal daily. Excessive sugar consumption, which accounts for 16-22% of daily calorie requirements, is not without negative consequences.

How does refined (leached) sugar work on our body?

In order for sugar to be absorbed by the body, it must be broken down. This requires enzymes, but they are absent in sugar; in this case, they must be supplied by the body, which is an excessive burden for it. As a result, we get irritation and inflammation of the gastric mucosa, an increased level of cholesterol in the blood, sclerosis of the coronary vessels and other diseases.

Since sugar contains neither minerals nor vitamins, it takes away calcium from the body and is known as the "B vitamin thief".

White sugar does not contain proteins, fats, ballast substances, vitamins, minerals. He can only one thing - to supply the body with energy, to cheer it up for a short time. At the same time, the level of sugar in the blood rises significantly (and along with this - carbohydrates, which briefly increase the efficiency of the body). At the same time as the extreme stress, the pancreas works: it produces insulin in large quantities to lower blood sugar levels. Years or decades pass, and it wears out so much that it can no longer supply the body with enough insulin, and as a result, diabetes develops. Meanwhile, the adrenal glands, releasing adrenaline and corticoids, are trying to smooth out the chaos that has arisen in the body due to the sudden intake of large amounts of sugar. But they too sooner or later get tired of working at the limit and cease to perform their important functions (mobilizing the body in sudden stressful situations, regulating water and salt balance, maintaining blood sugar levels with excessive consumption of carbohydrates, inhibiting inflammatory processes, etc.).

Theoretically, sugar in the form of glycogen as an energy reserve can be stored in the liver. However, this clever natural mechanism is powerless against the constant excessive intake of sugar. So you ate a good piece of cake and a bar of chocolate, washed down everything with lemonade - and you have already triggered the activation of the entire complex system: insulin is produced and quickly lowers blood sugar; The adrenal glands are doing everything they can to counteract this, as they serve the glycogen depot (designated for critical periods) and release sugar from it into the blood. In the meantime, you got tired and wanted to eat something tasty - and again everything goes in a vicious circle.

Excessive consumption of sugar, we unnecessarily constantly spur those metabolic processes in the body, which are provided for in extreme cases. A logical consequence are diseases such as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, constipation, dental caries. By the way, caries develops even when sugar does not touch the teeth from the outside: rats that were injected with sugar intravenously, and not given through the mouth, developed caries in the same way as those whose teeth were in direct contact with sugar. Sugar is dangerous in the following cases.

1. It disrupts the work of the insulin-dependent center in the brain, which regulates the need for food, and we no longer feel full when eating.

2. Chronic increases and decreases in blood sugar levels cause us to have more and more attacks of insatiable hunger.

3. Sugar seems to stimulate the formation of a homologous optiate that produces pleasant sensations.

How to preserve the diverse nutritional and physiological properties of honey? Honey is one of the few foodstuffs that, when properly stored for years, does not lose its inherent "inner qualities". The best storage of honey is permafrost. For example, the mainland Antarctica. Where is the Principality of the Russian treasure hunter Yuri Kharchuk. For this, however, you need to take into account some rules.

Storage in suitable containers

Glass is best suited for storing honey. Three liter cans are highly recommended. Their benefits are listed below. They are hygienic and practical.

Not harmful to the environment as they can be used many times.

A jar of honey looks great on any table. Therefore, honey is always at your disposal, you do not need to transfer it to another dish and spend extra energy on it. The lid of the can must be tightly closed. The commonly used plastic covers are suitable for this. Honey contains acids, so a paper pad covered with beeswax is also needed. This gasket eliminates unwanted reactions. The screw-down metal lids, covered with a layer of food-neutral material, are functionally flawless and practical.

When washing, be careful not to scratch the protective layer. The use of tin and plastic honey buckets is questionable for many reasons.

The food product of "natural production" cannot be combined with tin or plastic.

After repeated use, tin and plastic buckets are no longer very reliable (if in doubt, check for water permeability!).

Tin containers are very easy to scratch. Damaged buckets rust quickly, which is harmful to the honey they contain. They should be thrown away.

Food grade plastic buckets often have a corrosive smell of their own. Such buckets are most often disposable, thrown away - they pollute the environment. It is inconvenient to get honey out of such containers, and they themselves do not look decorative on the table.

Effects of light on honey

Especially valuable components of honey are light and heat sensitive. These include the enzymes sucrose, diastase, glucose oxidase, which contain bactericidal substances and counteract caries and various infectious diseases caused by bacteria. Since honey is rarely sold in light-shielding glass jars (this is probably the psychology of traders - what a stupidity!), Make sure that jars with honey are not exposed to light for a long time, and especially in the sun.

If you see that honey is not sold in a glass jar, this is a guarantee that the honey is a fake.

The sensitivity of honey to air and smell has been scientifically proven

There are many important reasons for keeping honey in a sealed container. Essential oils, the so-called aromatic substances, of which honey contains at least 60, evaporate from honey in an open container.

They are believed to have the same effect as vitamins.

Honey in an open container absorbs water and because of this it can turn sour (ferment). In a room with a temperature of 21 ° C and an air humidity of 65–70% and above, open honey absorbs moisture well. I had to buy roadside honey that smelled and tasted like exhaust fumes.

My advice. I always keep the jar of honey closed, even during breakfast, and open it only when I need to take honey, and then close it immediately. The bactericidal substances of honey prevent the formation of mold, even if bread crumbs or traces of oil remain on the knife and they get into the honey. Condition: natural, environmentally friendly bee honey, not heat-treated.

Heat sensitivity of honey

In the hive, honey is stored next to the bees living there, the average annual temperature there is from 17 to 19 ° C, and the maximum temperature is not higher than 37 ° C. True, in winter, the side combs freeze, as the bees leave them, having gathered in a club in the center of the hive. At what temperature to store honey - we are told by the bees that store it in the hive in natural conditions.

My advice. Always store honey in a cool, dry, dark place (you can in the basement!).

Since honey is sensitive to air, light and heat, it cannot be stored in an open container, in the sun or at temperatures above the maximum temperature in the hive, i.e. 36 ° C. It is good to add honey to cottage cheese dishes, to natural jam with fruits, to cold or slightly warmed drinks - milk and tea, to vegetable salads, dried fruits, to sauces for salads and vegetable dishes, to sweet dishes. Eat honey just like that when you crave sweets. Do not add honey to hot tea or milk.

Better spread on bread or eat a spoonful of honey, and then wash it down with hot tea. You can cool the drink to a suitable temperature and only then add honey to it.

Liquid honey

Liquid honey is transparent and has a fluid (watery) consistency; its color is from light to darkish (depending on the honey collection). Centrifugal honey is always liquid first. Honey is usually centrifuged at a temperature of 20-30 ° C, since at a higher temperature this cannot be done: when heated, the honeycomb is deformed, wax is mixed with honey, and the product's commercial quality is lost. On the labels of jars with honey, you can sometimes read a modest note: "Especially valuable honey of cold centrifugation", misleading the consumer. Centrifuged fresh honey can be immediately filled into jars. Depending on the honey flow and storage conditions, the liquid consistency lasts from several days to several months (maximum 5 years). High fructose honey stays liquid for a long time; if glucose predominates in it, it crystallizes much earlier.

When heated, honey can always have a liquid consistency, but most of its valuable components are destroyed. Many varieties of commercially available honey have been heat treated at 80-120 ° C. Paradoxically, but true: the labels bear the same cold centrifugation mark.

Creamy honey

Creamy honey is obtained by mechanical processing. Previously, only liquid or solid honeys were known, creamy, well spreadable, very rare. To obtain it, certain conditions are needed: bribes from specific plant species, optimal humidity and storage temperature.

It has long been known that centrifugal honey crystallizes (candies) after a few days or weeks. If honey is stirred or kneaded at this time, you can prevent the formation of crystals or completely stop it. Subsequently, such honey crystallizes, but the crystals in it are medium-sized and the consistency remains creamy.

Solid honey

Solid honey is a naturally crystallized bee honey. Depending on the honey yield from different plants, it can have a smear or very hard consistency. There are varieties of coarse-grained and fine-grained candied honey.

Honeydew honey remains liquid and dark for a long time. It produces few crystals and therefore appears flaky and unsightly. Often "flakes" are formed only at the bottom of the jar, while the top of the honey remains liquid. The color also changes from dark to gray-green.

There are two types of honey: flower and honeydew (forest). There are many varieties of each type, and the bees themselves and beekeepers often mix honey of different types and varieties. You should always remember that honey is a natural product. Bees do it not for humans, but for themselves: this is their main food. As a rule, the more diverse the surrounding nature, the more "mixed" honey, and the more monotonous the landscape, the "purer" the honey in terms of grade.

During the predominant flowering of certain plants, the beekeeper can get varietal honey.

1. Flower honey

Acacia honey. It contains a lot of fructose, so it retains its liquid consistency for a long time. Has a light color and soft, delicate taste.

Linden honey. Light greenish honey with a high glucose content. It is sugar-coated with large crystals and becomes hard.

Clover honey. Has a light (whitish) color and is sugared with small crystals (creamy honey). The taste is pleasantly delicate.

Rape honey. Whitish (similar to pork fat); candied for several days with small crystals (creamy honey).

Very sweet taste (loved by children).

Sunflower honey. Bright yellow, shiny, like sunflower flowers, candied with small crystals; has a typical aroma and taste.

Dandelion honey. Coloring from light yellow to yellow; candies quickly and becomes "hard as stone". When stirred or crushed, it remains creamy. Possesses a pronounced taste that amateurs appreciate very much.

Heather honey. Has a typical, slightly tart taste and amber color. Sold in combs (honeycomb).

Chestnut honey. Contains a lot of fructose, so it remains liquid-flowing for a long time and even smears after sugaring. Has a characteristic aroma and dark color. It is easy to confuse it with honeydew honey.

Buckwheat honey. This honey is dark brown; candied to a creamy, spreadable mass. It has a strong typical aroma that true amateurs appreciate.

Fruit honey. The generalized name of honey obtained from the flower nectar of stone fruit and pome fruit trees and berry crops. It is most often mixed honey of light color, with a pleasant aroma. Crystallizes to a moderately solid state.

Herbal honey. This name is understood as mixed honey obtained from honey harvest in meadows with various flowering plants, which are still preserved during extensive farming. Such honey has a beautiful light color and a pronounced aroma and taste.

2. Honeydew honey (forest or leaf)

Distinguish honeydew honey from deciduous and coniferous trees.

Its color is from dark to almost black. Along with numerous minerals, it contains a large amount of fructose, so it remains liquid for a long time. The taste of honeydew honey is typical - very tart and not as sweet as the taste of flower honey.

Pollen is the male cells of flowering plants, which store all the hereditary information that ensures the continuation of the genus of various plants.

To prevent inbreeding (closely related mating) with all its negative consequences, plants have developed a perfect mechanism. In most flowering plants, the transfer of sexually mature pollen occurs with the help of insects, and bees play an important role in this. Flowers attract pollinating insects with bright color, graceful shape, and aromas. They decorate their petals with filigree patterns, advertising their merits in their own way, and insects fly at them and transfer pollen of a given species from one plant to another. To ensure the continuation of the genus, nature is not stingy. One dandelion flower produces about 250,000 pollen grains, microscopically small and light. One gram of sunflower pollen contains 15,000 grains. The pollen grains of forget-me-not flowers are even smaller and lighter - 1 g contains 300,000 grains. When you think about what such a tiny grain, discernible by the human eye only under a good microscope, is still enclosed in a hard shell, you involuntarily come to thoughts about the magnificent organization of diverse life forms: after all, information about the heredity of countless living organisms consists of dozens of complex protein compounds, fats , vitamins, enzymes, mineral and biologically active substances. A person with no money and knowledge is not able to create life, since in his hands there is no most basic thing - the seed. This is the main secret of creation.

Artificially bred plants and animals (probably soon it will come to humans) are unlikely to be viable. In fact, these are spoiled, disfigured individuals. The risk is too great, although it is often difficult to understand. Who needs to get more and more grain, potatoes and vegetables through the use of poisonous chemical herbicides, synthetic mineral fertilizers and genetically seed material and through the creation of huge agricultural enterprises? With such unnatural production, the soil is destroyed, and the peasants are deprived of their means of subsistence. The products are of dubious value for a healthy diet, allergies spread and the immune system is weakened.

Why do bees collect pollen?

Bees feed exclusively on honey, pollen and water. Honey is especially rich in carbohydrates. Pollen supplies primarily high-value proteins and fats. Collecting nectar and collecting pollen are two different processes. The nectar gatherers aim only at the sweet sap of the flowers; along the way, they pollinate the plants.

To get to the nectar, the bee enters the flower, brushing the hairy body with the pollen that gets stuck in this hairline.

Thus, pollen is transferred from one flower to another, which ensures pollination. Bees - pollen collectors work differently, but they also contribute to pollination of plants. The composition of the pollen depends on the type of flowering plant.

Pollen contains:

- protein substances (22-40%), including amino acids: valine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, lysine, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, threonine, histidine, farginine, glutamine and aspartic acid, etc .;

- saccharides in the form of nectar carbohydrates (30-60%); vitamins, namely: vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B5 (niacin), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E, provitamin A (in the body, it turns into vitamin A); vitamin P (rutin), the content of which in pollen reaches 17%, increases capillary resistance;

- enzymes inherent in both plants and salivary glands and digestive organs of bees (amylase, invertase, catalase, phosphatase, etc.) serve as biological catalysts for various chemical processes in the body; antibiotics are found in plants and produced by the bees themselves;

- biologically active substances: flavonoids, nucleic and ribonucleic acids, leukoanthocyanin, chlorogen, triterpenic acid, etc .;

- minerals and trace elements: potassium, chlorine, iron, copper, phosphorus, barium, vanadium, tungsten, iridium, cadmium and, in addition, lipids, aromatic pigments, etc. "

No one, except honey bees, knows how to collect pollen so rationally. On their hind legs there are small brushes with which they clean off pollen, then the pollen enters the mouth through the proboscis, where it is moistened with saliva and nectar and turns into small grains (weighing 5–7 mg). During the flight, the bee transports this burden to the basket located on its hind legs, in which the so-called pollen is formed. It takes an average of 80 flowers to collect two patches! Further processing of pollen is carried out by the so-called hive bees. They take pollen, load cells with it, tamp it with their heads and pour it with honey. The pollen is preserved as a result of enzymatic reactions caused by the secretions of the salivary glands of bees. Lactic acid bacteria ensure long-term storage of the product. The bee bread obtained in this way is an important condition for the development of the bee colony. Strong bee colonies living in nature, where they have at their disposal many species of wild-growing grasses and other plants, collect about 30 kg of pollen during the growing season; from this amount the beekeeper can take 25% without harm to bees.

“The valuable nutritional and healing properties of pollen for the human body are explained by the vital substances it contains. Pollen contains more proteins than cereal grains. The same can be said for amino acids. Pollen contains 5 times more isoleucine, leucine and methionine, 6.5 times more phenylalanine and tryptophan than the same mass of beef, and 3 times more than cheese. This means that in the absence of other foodstuffs containing amino acids, a person needs 15 g of pollen per day to satisfy the body's needs. Pollen processed by bees has a high nutritional value due to the variety of substances it contains; no other natural food can compete with it. Pollen can be considered a "drug concentrate" due to its high content of enzymes, vitamins, trace elements, flavonoids, antibiotics of natural origin. It is also essential that all these substances are well balanced. " Pollen should not be used in large quantities. 15-25 g per day in several doses will be enough for the body to receive a lot of vital substances. Pollen, like honey, should not be heated above 35–40 ° C. Previously, it was believed that fresh (including deeply frozen) pollen could not be absorbed by the human body. Today we came to the conclusion that such pollen is well absorbed. However, it is recommended to chew it especially for a long time and thoroughly, moistening it abundantly with saliva in order to facilitate the digestion process. Canned pollen containing lactic acid, or bee bread, has no one hundred percent alternative. Pollen preserved with lactic acid is inferior in quality to fresh pollen; the lowest grade is dried pollen. It was already mentioned above that pollen (depending on the type of plant) can have a different composition. In rare cases, it is known from which plants the pollen was taken. It would be nice to know so that during the season, gradually take its stocks from the hive. Pollen from forb meadows is more balanced in composition than pollen from monocultures cultivated on large areas. In addition, it is preferable to use native pollen. Only in this way can the body develop antibodies against pollen allergy.

Biologically active substances of pollen

Flavonoids reduce blood cholesterol levels, thereby having a beneficial effect in the treatment of atherosclerosis. They are regenerative and anti-sclerotic agents. Leukoanthocyanin and chlorogenic acid have anti-inflammatory effects and strengthen capillaries; they have a beneficial effect on the thyroid gland and kidneys. Triterpene acids strengthen the heart, prevent the formation of sclerotic plaques, and inhibit inflammatory processes.

The numerous vital elements contained in pollen ensure success in the treatment of various ailments. This book touches on this topic very briefly.

How to choose the right pollen

Unfortunately, the pollen offered to customers is more often than not a useless, albeit expensive, ballast product. Why? What causes pollen to quickly lose its healing properties?

Consider how bees preserve pollen. They tamp it in cells, ferment it, preserve it and seal it hermetically with honey. In this form, pollen remains for many months without deteriorating or decomposing. True, such pollen cannot be bought, since in order to get it from the hive, the combs must be destroyed. Pollen, in contrast to honey, cannot be obtained by centrifuging combs. This product, also called bee bread, has a limited shelf life outside the hive: at room temperature - only 2–3 weeks, in the refrigerator - 4–6 weeks, in the freezer - several months. Commercially available pollen is obtained as follows. To the front wall of the hive, hang a device for the selection of pollen (pollen trap). Fresh pollen contains about 25% water. The selected pollen is carefully and quickly dried (but not in the sun), otherwise it will mold and deteriorate within a few days. After drying, it is packaged hermetically and stored at 4 ° C. Nevertheless, pollen undergoes decomposition: in 4–6 months it loses 20–30%, and in a year - 50% of its medicinal qualities; after 2 years it becomes completely useless. This is not surprising: after all, pollen is the male germ cells of plants; under natural conditions, they retain their viability for only a few days, until the fertilization of female cells. Bees have developed a mechanism for preserving pollen, optimally preserving it and even multiplying its valuable properties with the help of secrets added during collection and storage.

Output. Dried pollen can be recommended only when no more than 3 months have passed since the date of collection, since the active substances are stored only in fresh pollen. Pollen cells lose their ability to fertilize within 5 days.

You can use both fresh and frozen pollen for this recipe. 1000 parts (by weight) of pollen; 150 parts (by weight) honey; 250 parts (by weight) water; 2 ml whey or a little starter culture.

Lightly dry the pollen in the air, peel. Heat the water, dilute honey in it. Simmer for 5 minutes. Be careful, as the mixture can easily "escape". Cool the solution, add pollen, tamp. Add whey or starter culture (in a little liquid). Put oppression, close the container.

It should be recalled that there are many more recipes for treatment based on beekeeping and its products. To get to know them, you need to know more about each of them. And here is the treatment by bees, we will consider further.

Beekeeping produces far more products than is commonly believed. After all, many people are sure that nothing is done there except honey. In fact, it is thanks to bees that people get royal jelly, bee bread, wax, and this is not counting propolis, pollen, podmore, bee venom, and wax moth. The distinguishing feature of all these products is that they are very effective in raising human immunity.

Wax moth larvae

It is also worth noting the beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system of beekeeping products. And the extract from the wax moth larvae is best suited for this. It is she who contributes to the early scarring of damaged muscle tissue in the heart.

Honey

Natural honey is often used in folk medicine for diseases of the intestines, thyroid gland and weak immunity. It is easily and quickly digested and absorbed by the body, therefore it is used even for serious stomach ailments.

Royal jelly

Royal jelly is endowed with a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, as well as many components necessary for a healthy and rapid development of the body.

Propolis

Propolis is a first-class disinfectant and pain reliever. In addition, this substance is capable of eliminating suppuration. It is used as a tincture or ointment, much less often in its natural form. However, it should be noted that chewing the natural form of glue is very effective against toothache and other diseases of the oral cavity.

Bee venom

Many creams that relieve joint pain often contain bee venom. In addition, treatment with bee venom helps with rheumatism and intervertebral hernia, it also reduces the activity of an allergic reaction. It also helps to get rid of prostatitis, the effects of stroke and multiple sclerosis. As you can see, with bee products and insects themselves, you can get rid of many ailments at home.

pollen

And pollen is a good remedy for the treatment of liver diseases.

Application in cosmetology

Nowadays, many of the current products are used for cosmetic purposes. Indeed, besides the fact that they are all natural, they have no side effects. The only drawback of such products is that the body of some people is not able to assimilate them, which does not allow them to carry out treatment with beekeeping products. Fortunately, the percentage of such a population is very small, but in any case, precautions must be taken. To do this, they are taken for the first time in very small doses, and if complications do not arise, then everything is in order and further use of bee products is permissible.

Bee product recipes

In fact, among folk remedies, there are hundreds of recipes that allow you to make one or another remedy from bee products. Therefore, we will consider only the main ones.

Honey

There has always been a special attitude towards honey. It was often consumed in its natural state, but sometimes it was mixed with aloe and other natural ingredients. Such mixtures perfectly cured diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including ailments of the thyroid gland.

Propolis

Propolis is distinguished by its poor absorption in the body, due to its low solubility. That is why extracts are often made from it. These are mainly alcoholic tinctures, which consist of only two components.

Extract components

• natural, crushed bee propolis;
• pure ethyl alcohol.

They are mixed in a glass jar and left to sit for at least a week. If the liquid is periodically shaken throughout the entire period, then most of the bee glue will be diluted, after which it will only be necessary to filter it out. The tincture is stored in the refrigerator for up to three years.

Bee podmore

A similar method is used to prepare and. To cure many diseases, an extract is also made from it, pre-drying and grinding. Although for a full therapeutic effect in further apitherapy, the liquid will have to be kept for about two and a half weeks.

Royal jelly

Since royal jelly is not distinguished by the ability to maintain its medicinal qualities for a long time, it is often mixed with honey. Some beekeepers recommend doing this with equal amounts of ingredients. But according to the assurances of others, honey should be taken five times more.

Apitherapy

For many centuries, mankind has known about the healing power of honey and other beekeeping products. This knowledge was actively used in traditional medicine many thousands of years ago. Nevertheless, this is remembered even today, the methods of treatment of our ancestors have come down to us. And thanks to modern technology, a little more has become known about the effect of these substances.

In science, a separate term has even been deduced for the treatment of diseases with beekeeping products - apitherapy. For its implementation, honey, propolis, bee venom, perga, podmore, as well as drone homogenate are used.

Video

Natural medicines include bee products, and their use by humans has been prevention and treatment since ancient times. Modern science only confirms the benefits of apitherapy based on bee sting, the use of natural products and dosage forms prepared from them.

What is referred to as beekeeping products

Everything that the bee colony produces is used as natural medicines. The hive is a waste-free production. Even the corpses of bees are used as a remedy. At the apiary they receive:

• honey, and its properties depend on many factors;
• beeswax - a building material for bees;
• pollen - collection during flight;
• pergu - pollen preserved in combs with honey;
• backing - the product obtained by cutting off the covers of the sealed honeycomb;
• propolis - bee glue for repairing the hive from the inside;
• royal jelly - a secret extracted from the jaws of young bees;
• bee venom;
• bee dead.

You need to know that honey does not retain its healing properties when heated above 60 C.

The use of honey and other apiates for medicinal purposes is possible after consulting a doctor. Beekeeping products and their uncontrolled use by humans can cause severe allergic reactions, including swelling of the larynx.

Honey and its uses

The most famous product is honey, which has a unique composition and activates biological processes in the body. But with a great demand for honey, there is a high proportion of counterfeit products. You can buy guaranteed natural honey from the beekeeper. The best is the collection of flowers, mountains and buckwheat. By taking out the hives to flowering tracts, various varieties of honey are obtained, named after the plant from which the pollen was collected.

Natural healer honey and beekeeping products that have not passed veterinary control, do not have a quality certificate, can be dangerous. Beekeepers can use illegal drugs or collect bribes from chemically treated fields.

It is considered a valuable energy product, as it consists of 75% fructose and glucose, which are directly absorbed by the body. In addition, the rich enzymatic composition, the presence of organic acids, vitamins accelerates metabolism, enhances immunity and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.

Other beekeeping products are used by humans, taking into account their specificity and on the recommendation of a doctor.

Apitherapy

What is beeswax and how is it made. These are working combs that produce the building material from honey with internal glands. A kilogram of wax requires 3.5 kg of honey. The wax has a complex organic composition, 75% esters and 15% fatty acids. The light composition is insoluble in water or alcohols. Wax is used for skin diseases and cosmetics. For treatment with beekeeping products, wax plasters are prepared, applied to the skin.

Collected pollen is a product that has no analogues in terms of benefits. Bees collect pollen, roll it into a ball and carry it to the hive. In one flight, one bee will deliver 10 mg of pollen. And there is no more useful product for a weakened person. For three weeks, taking pollen with honey or in pure form, the patient undergoes a course of apitherapy. The duration of taking the drug is prescribed by the doctor.

Among the products of beekeeping, capping and its use require special attention. Firstly, you can collect honeycomb caps only during honey pumping. Secondly, this substance does not cause allergic reactions. Thirdly, it is simply delicious and children chew it with pleasure. And it saves the zabrus from many infectious diseases, increases immunity and even gives strength to weakened muscles. In total, you need to chew a tablespoon of healing powder 4 times a day for 10 minutes.

Propolis is considered a well-known medicinal product. The bees created it to repair the hive, and the man used the drug to treat skin diseases and internal organs. The composition contains wax, vegetable resins and a unique balm. Even tuberculosis can be defeated with propolis in combination therapy.

A consultation with a doctor is necessary when treating royal milk and when using bee venom. These are strong allergens and there are contraindications for use.

Uterine milk is taken in capsules that are dissolved under the tongue. In the stomach, the beneficial compound decomposes. Taking capsules increases the tone of the body, activates the nervous system, reduces the manifestation of angina pectoris and asthma. The use of bee venom is limited by many contraindications. Basically, drugs are used to treat joints and muscles. It has been noticed that beekeepers do not have rheumatism, but they live for a long time. Most likely, the complex effect of fresh air, unity with nature and the use of medicinal beekeeping products affects here.

Choosing beekeeping products - video

Bees are truly amazing creatures, since the masterpieces they create are known for their healing properties since ancient times. The application of beekeeping products covers various areas of human activity: medicine, cosmetology, cooking, herbal medicine and other well-known industries. It is impossible to compare with anything the abundance and usefulness of honey, the valuable properties of propolis, pollen, royal jelly and bee bread. The composition of this bee product is so unique that it impresses with the beneficial microelements and vitamins included in its composition. This is why beekeeping products have acquired such value among humanity.

All waste products of bees are considered natural medicines, since everything in the evidence is produced by bees in a waste-free way. Dead insects are also used in as a medicinal drug... Apiary is a derivative:

• honey, leading bee raw materials;
• beeswax, the main material for building hives;
• flower pollen obtained by bees from collection from inflorescences;
• bee bread, which is formed by the conservation of pollen and honey inside the honeycomb;
• a backbone obtained by cutting off the top of a sealed honeycomb;
• propolis, gluten necessary for the rehabilitation of the evidence from the inside;
• royal jelly, a substance that is secreted from the bee's mouth;
• bee venom;
• beesworm.

Description of bee products

The healing properties of honey derivatives

Person keeps bee apiaries in order to . This product is a medicinal drug and has many indications for those who are in poor health. The composition of honey contains components that enhance the defense mechanisms in the body. It is especially good to take it with medicinal herbal infusions. Honey has a calming, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, tonic, antibacterial, regenerating and regenerating effect. It is used to eliminate problems with the digestive system, respiratory tract, thyroid gland and nervous system. Besides, honey is a tonic for the body and rejuvenates it.

The usefulness of propolis

Propolis perfectly heals any wounds, treats dermatitis. It helps to get rid of bronchitis, tuberculous lesions, prostatitis. Healing affects the erosion in the uterine region of the cervix. Propolis actively removes dental, endocrine and female dysfunctions. Thanks to its regenerating properties, it removes imperfections on the skin well.