Royal jelly is a sticky liquid produced by young bees aged 5-15 days. Insects produce this substance through the pharyngeal glands. Bee jelly can be liquid or thick jelly-like. The first variety is intended for raising ordinary bees, the second - for feeding the queen. The substance contains many valuable components. Therefore, the question of how royal jelly is obtained is very relevant.
What it is?
Royal jelly is a food with a special composition that is used by worker bees to feed larvae and raise ordinary individuals. The substance is produced by nurse bees. Bee jelly is formed in the maxillary gland of insects, from which it enters the honeycomb with larvae. In appearance, the composition resembles a thick mass of white or light cream color. It is characterized by an increased pH level.
Royal jelly contains the following components:
- 65% water;
- 10-20% proteins - albumins and globulins;
- 10-20% carbohydrates - fructose, glucose, sucrose.
Milk also includes vitamins B, A, C, D, E, H, PP. It also contains fatty acids - succinic, stearic, decenoic, palmitic. In addition, the product contains sterols and acetylcholines.
Education process
Milk has a simple formation process. It is made by bees aged 6-15 days when eating beebread. It is at this moment that the nurse bees receive a special substance in the maxillary and pharyngeal glands, which is used to fill the wax cell - the queen cell.
Then an egg is placed in it, which is intended to hatch the uterus. In this case, the larva that emerges from the egg literally bathes in milk. It not only saturates it with nutrients, but also provides reliable protection against bacteria.
What kind of bees produce milk?
Milk is produced by so-called nurse bees. They are ordinary working individuals that are focused on supplying queen cells with food.
How is royal jelly obtained?
Under natural conditions, bees produce small amounts of a valuable substance. At the same time, its maximum volume is received by the queen herself, for which the bees create queen cells.However, there are several methods that help to collect a valuable product.
Change of uterus
In this case, literally 2 cells are laid, from which a little product is then collected. This method cannot be called effective, which is why it is used extremely rarely.
Swarming
When using this method, the bees draw a large number of queen cells. However, experienced beekeepers try not to use this method, as it can cause the loss of bees.
Orphaning
This is the most common and effective method. It involves the creation of a large number of queen cells by bees. Their exact number is determined by the breed of bees. The maximum parameter is typical for Caucasian mountain bees. It is 50-60 pieces at a time.
Safety regulations
To obtain high-quality bee jelly, it is important to strictly follow safety rules. All cut queen cells must be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. In this case, their shelf life is 1 year. If you extract the substance from the mother liquor, it will lose its beneficial properties after 2 hours.
To obtain milk safely, you need the following:
- A separate room in which high humidity is maintained, a stable temperature of +25-27 degrees and no bright sunlight. It is important to thoroughly disinfect the room.
- Special tools and refrigerator.
- Alcohol for hand disinfection.
- Means for sterilizing instruments and storage containers. It is important to use glass or aluminum containers for royal jelly. Plastic and plexiglass will not work.
- Sterile clothing and a four-layer gauze bandage.
It is important to avoid exposing bee jelly to bright sunlight and air. Otherwise, it will quickly lose its properties.
New mining methods
Many beekeepers use newer methods to extract beekeeping products, which have many advantages:
- Miller's method. In this case, 4 triangles of wax sheets are fixed on the frame. In this case, it is important to maintain 5 centimeters from the bottom bar. The structure must be placed between 2 brood frames. When using this method, the bees pull out the foundation while the queen is busy laying larvae. After this, the frame with the brood is pulled out, thinned out and moved to the orphaned family. The bees begin to pull the queen cells. After just 3 days, you can start collecting the first royal jelly and installing a new frame.
- Transfer of larvae in wax bowls. They are made with their own hands. To do this, you should use a wooden blank, the diameter of which is 8-10 centimeters. It needs to be cooled in the refrigerator first. Then you need to melt the pure wax and immerse the workpiece in the resulting mass. This must be done twice. After cooling, the workpiece must be twisted to form a bowl. You need to place the larvae in it. It is recommended to do this with a spatula. After 3 days, the queen cells can be pulled out and new bowls placed.
- Genter's method. This scientist found that it is possible to obtain royal jelly without transferring larvae. This requires the use of plastic honeycombs. In this case, the plug bottom with the larva is pulled out and fixed to the hive frame.
Storage rules and expiration date
Many beekeepers refuse to extract royal jelly because it has a very short shelf life. In its pure form, the product can be stored for literally 2 hours.
An expired substance does not pose a health hazard, but it is completely devoid of beneficial properties.If certain rules are followed, the shelf life can be increased to 2 years. To do this, it is permissible to use the following methods:
- Adsorption. To apply this method, a composition of 98% lactose and 2% glucose must be added to 1 part of royal jelly. It needs to be ground well to obtain a homogeneous consistency and placed in an airtight dark glass bottle. At a temperature of -18 degrees, the shelf life of the substance is 2 years.
- Lyophilization. This method is actively used in industrial settings. In this case, the product must first be frozen for 3 hours. This is done at a temperature of -35-40 degrees. Sublimation is then performed using a vacuum. This procedure lasts 2 days. After dehydration, the moisture content of royal jelly is no more than 2%. The product can be stored in this form for 2 years. In this case, the temperature should be +20 degrees.
In queen cells
It is best to store this beekeeping product in its natural casing - in the queen cell. It is in this form that beekeepers extract milk. They cut off the wax cells from the hives with the larva inside, which is completely covered with valuable liquid. After which the queen cells are deep frozen. Before use, you can easily remove the contents with the tip of a spoon. If desired, the embryo can be separated.
With honey
To make a mixture with honey, it is recommended to use exclusively fresh queen cells that have not been frozen. The finished composition does not need to be kept in the freezer.It is quite acceptable to store it in the refrigerator at a temperature of +5-18 degrees. The shelf life of this product is 18 months.
In granules
It is quite acceptable to store bee jelly in powder form. The product is usually sold in granules in pharmacies. However, finding a natural composition can be quite difficult. Among the advantages of this form of release, it is worth highlighting the long shelf life and ease of dosage calculation.
Royal jelly is a very useful beekeeping product that contains many valuable components. Therefore, many beekeepers collect this substance using traditional or more modern methods.
