Royal jelly how to collect and store properly
Nobody knows for sure, when and how people began to collect and use royal jelly. Documentary mentions of this date back to the XIX century, but so far anticipated, that beekeepers are well acquainted with this product. Today "royal jelly", as it is called in English-speaking countries, widely used as a dietary supplement, ingredients of cosmetics and medicines, but if the process of collecting honey is imagined by many, then the method of extracting royal jelly for most remains a mystery.
What is royal jelly
Royal jelly is one of the foods for bee larvae. It is secreted from the hypopharyngeal and maxillary glands of bees and is a cream-colored thick liquid with a consistency, resembling a gel. The quality of the substance depends largely on the composition of the pollen and the general health of the insects. Royal jelly got its name because of that, that they are constantly fed by the queen bee, which receives it from young worker bees. During the first 3 days of life it serves as food for all larvae, but then all, except one, switch to a diet of pollen and nectar. The uterus grows to 25 mm in length and up to 200-300 mg weight, it retains its reproductive capacity for life, which in natural conditions can last up to 8-9 years, while worker bees live from one month (summer season) to 3-4 months (winter).
Glands are most active in young bees aged 4-5 to 20 days. They produce the enzyme sucrose, necessary for the conversion of nectar into honey. Older bees can also activate these glands to a limited extent, if necessary. This may happen closer to the end of winter, when there is a shortage of young insects.
Royal jelly, essentially, Is a protein-fat food with a complex composition of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and other nutrients.
Royal jelly contains flavonoids, amino acids, enzymes, hormones, nucleic acids, vitamins, minerals. Of particular value are two components - 57-kDa protein (royalactin), due to which the uterus reaches a larger size and retains reproductive activity, and 10-hydroxy-2-decanoic acid - a preservative and antiseptic, saves the product until use.
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Provision
How to extract royal jelly, if in natural conditions bees produce it very little? The uterus receives the largest amount of royal jelly. For her bees build a special cell - queen cell. This happens in three cases:
- with a quiet change of the uterus (with the existing uterus, a new one is grown to replace it);
- when swarming (the division of the bee family has doubled);
- family orphanhood (absence of the uterus).
In the case of a quiet change of the uterus, only a few queen cells are laid, from which you can get a very small amount of royal jelly. Most beekeepers try not to allow swarming, as there is a great danger of losing bees.
The method of family orphanhood is mainly used for the purposeful production and collection of royal jelly. In this case, some breeds of bees create up 100 queen cells, which are then removed, cleaned of larvae and extracted from them royal jelly.
One of the easiest ways is the following:
- A strong bee family is divided - put a blank fence in a large hive or bred in two different. As a result, some bees will be with the uterus, and the instincts of the other half of the family will require raising a new "queen".
- Frames with sealed boxes with larvae are placed in the orphaned family - this is needed to increase the number of young bees. Also in this hive put a frame with one-day larvae or cut off honeycombs, attached to the frame - bees will form queen cells from them, it is in these cells that royal jelly will accumulate. Sometimes self-made or purchased wax bowls are used, where the larvae are transferred.
- Across 6-8 days of orphanhood frame is removed and put a new one. This is repeated 4-5 times, and then reunite families or raise a new uterus. About 0.3-0.4 g of milk can be obtained from one queen cell, from one strong family - to 20-30 d for the season.
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When collecting royal jelly, it is important to keep it clean - wash and disinfect your hands well, dishes, tools with alcohol or other antiseptic. The queen cells after excavation are cut from the frames with a knife and the larvae are removed (they can then be returned to the hive), but to extract milk from them requires special tools and facilities with special conditions, since air and light are detrimental to him and already through 15 minutes outside the hive, it loses its healing properties. Some beekeepers store the product in the refrigerator in an airtight bag directly in the queen cells, others, in the presence of laboratory conditions, with the help of an aluminum or glass spatula remove the milk and place it in a glass vessel (flask) with airtight lid. The surface of such utensils is covered with wax from the inside. The greatest value is native royal jelly, as it retains the fullest range of useful qualities.
How to save useful properties
According to GOST 28888-90, raw royal jelly is considered a perishable product and is contained in glass, filled with wax bottles at a temperature of -10 ° C to -6 °C, warranty period of storage no more than two hours. For Guest R 52680-2006, adsorbed (preserved by adsorbent - a mixture of lactose and glucose) royal jelly is stored for up to two years at room temperature -18 °C, up to a year at temperatures up to -6 °C, to 9 months at +4-+8 °C.
Such harsh conditions are the main reason for the limited collection and use of the product. Its preservation in its native form in the home refrigerator remains questionable, therefore, royal jelly is often subjected to additional processing:
- Adsorption method. For one part of bee's milk take a mixture of 98% lactose and 2% glucose, grind to a tight state and tightly closed in an opaque glass vial. The maximum shelf life is two years at -18 ° C.
- Lyophilization. This is an industrial way, based on the evaporation of ice in vacuum without its transition to the liquid phase. The maximum shelf life is two years at temperatures up to + 20 ° C.
- "Folk" methods of storage. Someone dissolves milk in honey in concentration 1 to 100 or even 1 to 300, others mix it with vodka (10 g milk for 90 g vodka), however, the question, how useful the product remains with such storage methods, there are conflicting opinions.
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Royal jelly has been known to people since time immemorial, but in this regard, that it is difficult to collect, and storage requires special conditions, most often "royal jelly" was used by beekeepers immediately after extraction. This product, which allows the queen bee to grow twice as large as other bees and live in 40-50 times longer, modern beekeepers get after some effort, aimed at stimulating the laying of new queen bees. However, the main problem remains the safety of the product, since under the influence of air, light and heat already through 15 minutes milk almost loses its useful properties.