Pollen and Other Specialty Bee Products (Re: Today I Made)

[Lesgold]

Thanks for moving the topic Reagan. Now we can focus on pollen as a topic. When you dry your pollen in the dehydrator, what is the time frame involved? I would expect that it would dry reasonably quickly. Is the nutritional value of the pollen reduced or changed in any way during the drying process?

[Ben Framed]

"Lesgold"
There is a bunch of questions I want to ask as I think Michael is right about presenting both items at markets as educational displays. Building a reasonable knowledge base would be a good start.
Modify message

Totally agreed..  Tim sells even more bee related items. You might check his website out for more good ideas... If you are interested I will PM his website to you;    (if I can find it..)  lol


And thank you Reagan for splitting the topic. Good Job!!

Phillip

[Michael Bush]

If you're going to sell pollen for human consumption one of the issues is cleaning it.  You can make a cleaner with a piece of air duct and a fan.  Or you can buy a top entrance trap and keep you colony with a top entrance all the time (otherwise they don't work well).  With a top trap the pollen is already very clean.  Then there is the drying issue.  I prefer to keep it in the freezer and have it moist, but you can dehydrate it in a dehydrator or an open container in the freezeer.

[The15thMember]

Now we can focus on pollen as a topic. When you dry your pollen in the dehydrator, what is the time frame involved? I would expect that it would dry reasonably quickly.

It does.  I didn't do any pollen collecting this year (too many mean bees in the apiary over the spring and early summer), but if I remember from the previous year I think it was about half a day in the dehydrator. 

Is the nutritional value of the pollen reduced or changed in any way during the drying process?

I would doubt it alters it much.  Honestly, there is not a lot of literature out there about the digestibility of pollen to humans.  It would probably be most nutritionally accessible to us if we were eating the bee bread out of the cells, because the bees have fermented that pollen.  But until someone invents an easy way to harvest bee bread out of comb, it's not really feasible.

If you're going to sell pollen for human consumption one of the issues is cleaning it.  You can make a cleaner with a piece of air duct and a fan.  Or you can buy a top entrance trap and keep you colony with a top entrance all the time (otherwise they don't work well).  With a top trap the pollen is already very clean.

I have a bottom mount trap, and you do get little bits of hive debris in the pollen sometimes.  Since I'm not selling the pollen, I just hand pick out the obvious bits.  It's important to empty a pollen trap very frequently, preferably daily, to keep the moist pollen laying in the trap from molding or drawing other insects to it, and that frequent harvesting helps to keep the debris down as well. 
 

[Michael Bush]

In a humid climate it is necessary to empty it daily.  Dee & Ed Lusby used to run them on all of their hives in the Sonoran Desert and emptied them about once a month.  The problem Dee had was the ants would steal the pollen.  If you are making a trap you need a window screen on the bottom of the drawer or it will mold even faster.  It is much nicer to eat when it's still moist, but I would assume the nutrition is about the same.  I'm not sure how drying it affects the bacteria and yeast which are the probiotics in the pollen

[Lesgold]

Thanks guys. I?ve been doing a bit of research and looking at trap designs. In my neck of the woods, the only traps that are readily available are the yellow plastic ones that hang out in front of the hive. They were inexpensive so I decided to buy a couple and see how they work. The one that I built many years ago was based on that design. The Sundance traps look interesting but they don?t appear to be readily available here in Australia. Michael, I like the idea of trapping pollen at the top of a hive. I might experiment with a top entrance on one of my hives and see how well it works before I go to the effort of making a top mount trap. With all of the spaces in and through the trap, are there issues with beetles?

[The15thMember]

The Sundance traps look interesting but they don?t appear to be readily available here in Australia.

You could probably build one.  I think I've seen copycat plans around for Sundance style traps. 

With all of the spaces in and through the trap, are there issues with beetles?

I've never noticed an increase in beetle trouble with the trap on.  You'd only have it on a very strong hive anyway, and the strong hives in my area don't struggle with beetles. 

[Lesgold]

The pollen traps arrived a short time ago. I might set it up on one of the stronger hives and give it a short run. I will be playing with a top Mount design in the next few days. I do like the stainless mesh cone bee escapes used in the Sundance traps. I?ll have a play in the workshop to see what I can come up with. The rest of a pollen trap is a fairly simple build.  Getting correct mesh sizes and distances will be the major issues. It may take a few builds to get one that works well.

[Ben Framed]

Les I ordered 3 that looked like that directly from China when I first began keeping bees. I think they sent me the type for Asian Bees because my bees never could get through the provided openings. I have heard Asian Bees are smaller than European Bees? I am not saying yours in not the proper size as I have seen the same type offered by companies here in America... I should have bought from a local American Company..

Iddee, (incase you read this post), do they sell this type pollen trap at your local bee supplier; Beez Needs?

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Thanks for that Phillip. You may be right. The openings are quite small. It will be interesting to see if they can squeeze through. I?ll pop one on a hive tomorrow and give a report. I?m planning on making one anyway. At least this one will give me a few ideas as to the size of holes that I need.

[Ben Framed]

Les local Beekeeping supply companies here, also sell a trap that resembles the pictured that I am sure are correct for European Bees. It may well be that your trap is correct for European Bees? I ordered directly from China and I think that was the problem for me. I am anxious to hear your results..

Phillip








.

[Lesgold]

I tried measuring the size of the opening on the trap. It was difficult to get a ruler into a reasonable position but from what I can see, the openings are a little larger than I thought. The trapezium shape was about 5mm on the shorter side and 6mm on the longer side. In theory the bees should be able to squeeze through. I put a trap onto one of the stronger hives and used a block of wood to wedge the door open. This new obstruction obviously confused the bees and they landed all around the trap looking for a way to get in. It was quite interesting watching them trying to sort out what was going on. Some landed on top of the trap, many walked around the edge of the trap attempting to find gaps close to the bottom board and a few landed directly on the open landing area and walked in. I think it will take a few days for the bees to sort it out. Their radar and/ or memory in relation to where they need to land is amazing. I won?t close the screen until the bees know where to go.

[Ben Framed]

It Looks good sitting in place Les. As long as the intended access holes are the correct size, they will sort it out.

[Lesgold]

I closed the door on the trap this morning. A cold front came through and as a result, most of the girls are tucked up in bed under the blankets. This meant the few bees who were flying could be watched as they moved in and out of the hives. They were able to move through the opening in both directions with a bit of effort which is what I wanted to see.

[Ben Framed]

Good deal.....

[Lesgold]

The plastic pollen trap has been sitting on the hive for a few days now. I haven?t tried to trap much pollen as the hive is still building slowly and there is not a lot coming in. I often go and sit next to the hive to see how the bees are reacting to this new obstruction and try to follow individual bees as they sort their way in through this maze. One point of interest is the bee escape on the side of the trap. It is interesting how bees were generally not interested in using this hole as an entry point. They would climb up the external walls of the tube, have a look and then turn around and go back down. Bees were constantly exiting from the hole in a steady stream. Occasionally there would be the odd one sneak in but in general this tube was ignored. I can see why escape tubes are a common part of pollen traps.

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

When I purchased a couple of pollen traps a few weeks ago, I also added two propolis traps to the order just to give them a try. They were placed on hives earlier today with a couple of spacers to keep the lids open slightly. I have one question for the experts. I understand why the lid is propped open but I?m wondering if the type of bottom board impacts  in relation to how quickly the propolis is added to the mat. Would a screened or slotted BB force the bees to react more quickly due to the extra ventilation within the hive or am I just making silly assumptions?

[Michael Bush]

I think propolis is more in response to light, but a SBB let's in more light...

[Ben Framed]

You both may be correct about light and propolis. In my area it does not seem to matter whether light or dark; (whether the top is down and the bottom is solid). Propolis is a reality that is produced in abundance to the point of annoyance. That is why I ask the question of the value of propolis here at beemaster a few years ago. If propolis is of significant value, and there is a market for it, I for one would like some inside information about that subject for those who might be in the know. Such would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks,
Phillip

[Michael Bush]

Well, they cover everything in propolis.  But they pile it up to stop light.