Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: 1hivegoin on July 09, 2009, 04:33:03 pm

Title: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: 1hivegoin on July 09, 2009, 04:33:03 pm
I noticed some cells of pollen in my honey super. I did not notice this last year. I am not using an excuder, does this mean my queen has been upstairs?  How will this impact my honey? There are probably 20 cells per frame.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Bee-Bop on July 09, 2009, 05:40:40 pm
The Queen really has nothing to do with pollen storage.

The workers just thought it would be a good place to stik some pollen, very common situation.

Check with a local beekeeper/beeclub they can enlighten you on the basics.
Your local public library has or can get thru inter-library loan, a wealth of bee info also.

Bee-Bop
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: homer on July 09, 2009, 10:05:45 pm
Most of the pollen will filter out when you run the honey through a strainer.  However, pollen is a natural part of beekeeping and it's pretty normal to have bits of pollen in your raw honey.  It's a good thing, really!
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Cheryl on July 09, 2009, 10:12:44 pm
I love pollen in honey! It is delicious - and helps with seasonal allergies.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: sc-bee on July 09, 2009, 11:40:49 pm
It makes your honey what it should bee. Especially to someone whose allergy doctor has told them to try local honey before deciding to take allergy shots :-D!
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: lakeman on July 10, 2009, 07:38:40 am
Most of the pollen will filter out when you run the honey through a strainer.  However, pollen is a natural part of beekeeping and it's pretty normal to have bits of pollen in your raw honey.  It's a good thing, really!

If you are not interested in extracting, but only in comb production and possible sales, is some pollen a good thing? (If so how much?) I would think it would be detrimental to selling honey in the comb, except for certain persons big into organics etc. Does the general public understand the appearance of pollen in their honey is not a bad thing? I would think to the uninformed general public, it would be considered a contaminate.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: luvin honey on July 10, 2009, 11:46:19 pm
I agree, Lakeman, that the general public would not be impressed with pollen. I have been a comb eater my entire life, and before becoming a beek I would have been not pleased to see colored paste in my comb :D These days, of course, I would try to taste it specifically to find out what flowers it might have come from!

OTOH, an informed, "organic" customer could definitely learn to appreciate the pollen and its purported nutritional values and allergy-inhibiting effects!
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Cheryl on July 11, 2009, 12:49:25 am
I sent my sister some of my 50/50 honey/pollen spread. She'd been reading up on pollen as a supplement and was very interested. When I sent her the mix, she loved it immediately, and she has asked me for more. She says it helps her feel better physically. It does me too, gives me more energy.

Everything in moderation of course. Too much pollen at once can make a person feel sick, so it must be consumed sparingly.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: lakeman on July 11, 2009, 08:28:23 am
Another question or two, my first thought on first hearing of eating pollen for health purposes (upon becoming a beekeekper) , and being a person that evidently has numerous allergys (none specifically identified) whose nose runs just about daily, if pollen causes reactions, eating it would appear to be flirting with danger.  Is there any pollen that is known to be dangerous to consume? Does pollen in the nose cause a reaction, but never when consumed as food? How about when breathing through the mouth rather than the nose?

---->These days, of course, I would try to taste it specifically to find out what flowers it might have come from!<-----

Can you tell by tasteing what plant the pollen is from? does the pollen tast like the plant smells? are there any known plant pollens that are detrimental to good/quality honey?

I live on the Lake, and in the spring the surface of the lake is covered with a thick layer of yellowish/greenish pollen which I have suspected to be pine tree, and oaktree pollen. Do these trees have blooms that provide necter (I have never noticed any)? Do the bees gather pollen from plants that do not provide necter?

Oh, by the way I have always been an inqusitive what if, why, how does it work kind of person, and after all, if you don't ask, you will never know.

Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: jdpro5010 on July 11, 2009, 12:17:32 pm
All pollen can be harmful to the right person when consumed.  It is always best when consuming pollen to start out at very small amounts at first and then slowly increase as you go.  Of course. I am talking about straight pollen.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: lakeman on July 11, 2009, 01:30:45 pm
All pollen can be harmful to the right person when consumed.  It is always best when consuming pollen to start out at very small amounts at first and then slowly increase as you go.  Of course. I am talking about straight pollen.

I see this as a good reason it would not be good to have it in your honey.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Cheryl on July 11, 2009, 01:57:50 pm
ACTUALLY, eating pollen brings it into the body another way, and helps DESENSITIZE the allergy. This is why eating local honey helps a lot of people with nasal allergies.

However, if a person is so allergic that eating pollen is bad for them, then they shouldn't. And yes, some pollens are bad for everyone, mountain laurel for example.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: qa33010 on July 13, 2009, 01:29:36 pm
   The folks that get honey from me WANT pollen in the honey and are happy if it starts to granulate/crystalize.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: jdpro5010 on July 13, 2009, 02:50:43 pm
Oh I absolutely agree pollen is wanted in honey and that pollen is a good thing.  What I was meaning is that you should be careful if you start taking pollen straight as a supplement.  If a person downs 2 tablespoons of pollen in the morning as supplement and has never taken it before they should be careful as to how much they take right off the bat.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Scadsobees on July 13, 2009, 04:26:11 pm
Yes, it is the miniscule amounts of pollen in honey that will desensitize, not greater quantities.

They usually store the pollen by the brood.  So if you have pollen upstairs, there was likely brood upstairs and they backfilled as the brood hatched, and then just filled in over the remaining pollen with honey.

I'm not a fan of pollen.

Rick

Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Robo on July 13, 2009, 05:06:54 pm
Pollen will cloud the honey a bit.  If you have an upper entrance, that is most likely the cause.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Natalie on July 15, 2009, 12:45:30 am
Rob why does an upper entrance affect the pollen storage? I am just trying to bank some knowledge for the future. :-D

Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Robo on July 15, 2009, 08:22:50 am
With only a bottom entrance, they are more likely to store it in the bottom with the brood and not haul it all the way up to the honey supers.  Queen excluders also help eliminate pollen in the honey supers by making it difficult for them to move the pollen through.
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Natalie on July 15, 2009, 01:29:37 pm
Thanks Robo. :)
Title: Re: Pollen in my honey super
Post by: Jim134 on July 17, 2009, 07:04:38 am
With only a bottom entrance, they are more likely to store it in the bottom with the brood and not haul it all the way up to the honey supers.  Queen excluders also help eliminate pollen in the honey supers by making it difficult for them to move the pollen through.


  If you use Ross Round like a Queen excluder it will  help eliminate pollen in the honey supers



    BEE HAPPY Jim134  :)