Bee Products
Royal Jelly
Royal Jelly comes from the fact that the larvae intended to become queens, and adults queens, are exclusively fed with a large amount of this food. Royal Jelly contains the determining factor that converts a worker bee to a queen bee.
Chemical composition: The average chemical composition is 67% moisture, 12.5%, total fatty acids 5%, total sugars 1%, minerals (ash) 1% and 3.5% other unidentified ingredients, vitamins and minerals. Also some of the proportion comprised of various compounds such as 10-hydroxy-decenoic acid and pantothenic acid. Physical properties: The color of the royal jelly is important because it indicates the freshness and its suitability for consumption. Fresh royal jelly has a bright white color. When it is exposed to air or light its colour changes to light yellow and dark grey. This change is due to enzymes that oxidize some components of royal jelly and destroy it. Royal jelly has a light pungent smell and sour taste due to very low ph (3.5 to 4.5).
Nutritional value: The Royal jelly helps treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Helps aged and tired body and is widely used in pediatrics as it helps children with anemia, pneumonia, bacterial infections etc. Improves general mood, increases work resistance, appetite and helps people gain greater mental and physical stamina. It is germicidal and antiseptic and helps women significantly in lactation after childbirth. Finally, it helps men to improve their sexual life.
Chemical composition: The average chemical composition is 67% moisture, 12.5%, total fatty acids 5%, total sugars 1%, minerals (ash) 1% and 3.5% other unidentified ingredients, vitamins and minerals. Also some of the proportion comprised of various compounds such as 10-hydroxy-decenoic acid and pantothenic acid. Physical properties: The color of the royal jelly is important because it indicates the freshness and its suitability for consumption. Fresh royal jelly has a bright white color. When it is exposed to air or light its colour changes to light yellow and dark grey. This change is due to enzymes that oxidize some components of royal jelly and destroy it. Royal jelly has a light pungent smell and sour taste due to very low ph (3.5 to 4.5).
Nutritional value: The Royal jelly helps treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Helps aged and tired body and is widely used in pediatrics as it helps children with anemia, pneumonia, bacterial infections etc. Improves general mood, increases work resistance, appetite and helps people gain greater mental and physical stamina. It is germicidal and antiseptic and helps women significantly in lactation after childbirth. Finally, it helps men to improve their sexual life.
Pollen
Pollen is collected by bees from various flowers. Pollen is the richest natural food containing proteins, vitamins, essential amino acids, hormones, enzymes and other useful ingredients for our diet.
Chemical composition: The average chemical composition is 25.7% protein, 4.8% lipids, 27% carbohydrates, minerals (ash) 3.1%, water 30%, vitamins and minerals.
Nutritional value: Pollen helps in mental health, strengthens heart contraction and is diuretic. Improves appetite and thus it is highly recommended in cases of weakness and poor metabolism, intestinal disorders, neurasthenia, psychosis and memory loss. Pollen is rich in cystine, an amino acid that affects hair growth and hair color. Additionally, has beneficial effect on the prostate. Also, it helps relieve and reduce the symptoms of menopause.
Chemical composition: The average chemical composition is 25.7% protein, 4.8% lipids, 27% carbohydrates, minerals (ash) 3.1%, water 30%, vitamins and minerals.
Nutritional value: Pollen helps in mental health, strengthens heart contraction and is diuretic. Improves appetite and thus it is highly recommended in cases of weakness and poor metabolism, intestinal disorders, neurasthenia, psychosis and memory loss. Pollen is rich in cystine, an amino acid that affects hair growth and hair color. Additionally, has beneficial effect on the prostate. Also, it helps relieve and reduce the symptoms of menopause.
Propolis
Propolis is a substance of resins and gums that bees collect from the buds of trees, enrich it with wax, pollen, enzymes and other substances and use it to seal up and disinfect the inside of the their nest. Every time a bee gets off a cell they cover it with propolis.
Chemical Composition: Propolis contains resins and balsams 55%, 30% wax, 10% essential oils, 5% pollen, flavonoids and phenolic compounds.
Physical properties: Propolis differs from cell to cell due to vegetation and the color varies from red to yellow and black. Propolis is insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol. At temperatures over 25º C is soft, flexible and adheres to hands, while at temperatures below 15º C is hard and brittle.
Nutritional value: Propolis has bactericidal and bacteriostatic properties. It is used to heal trauma of the respiratory organs, the oral cavity and other areas of the human body. Due to its large content of flavonols it has antiseptic and antibacterial action. Propolis also inhibits the gathering of erythrocytes, protects vitamin C from oxidation and finally, improves blood circulation in the capillary vessels. It is used against fungal infections and otorhinolaryngological problems and against peptic ulcer and prostate problems.
Chemical Composition: Propolis contains resins and balsams 55%, 30% wax, 10% essential oils, 5% pollen, flavonoids and phenolic compounds.
Physical properties: Propolis differs from cell to cell due to vegetation and the color varies from red to yellow and black. Propolis is insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol. At temperatures over 25º C is soft, flexible and adheres to hands, while at temperatures below 15º C is hard and brittle.
Nutritional value: Propolis has bactericidal and bacteriostatic properties. It is used to heal trauma of the respiratory organs, the oral cavity and other areas of the human body. Due to its large content of flavonols it has antiseptic and antibacterial action. Propolis also inhibits the gathering of erythrocytes, protects vitamin C from oxidation and finally, improves blood circulation in the capillary vessels. It is used against fungal infections and otorhinolaryngological problems and against peptic ulcer and prostate problems.
What is Apiculture?
Apiculture is the management and study of honeybees.
Apiculture is the management and study of honeybees.
Apiculture is derived from the honeybee's Latin name Apis mellifera, meaning ‘honey gatherer’. Since bees do not collect honey but nectar from which honey is made, the scientific name should actually be Apis mellifica meaning ‘honey maker’.
Although apiculture refers to the honeybee, the vital role all bees play in the pollination of crops and flowering plants has caused apiculture to also include the management and study of non-Apis bees such as bumblebees and leafcutter bees.
Some 90 million years ago, flowering plants first appeared on earth. The wasp-like ancestors of bees took advantage of the food made available by flowers and began to modify their diet and physical characteristics.
Since then, flowering plants and bees co-evolved. This eventually led to a complete interdependence, meaning that flowering plants and bees cannot live and reproduce without each other.
Since then, flowering plants and bees co-evolved. This eventually led to a complete interdependence, meaning that flowering plants and bees cannot live and reproduce without each other.
The genus Apis is comprised of a comparatively small number of species including the western honeybee Apis mellifera, the eastern honeybee Apis cerana, the giant bee Apis dorsata, and the small honeybee Apis florea.
Honeybees are indigenous to the Eurasian and African continents and were introduced to the Americas and Australia by European settlers.
The western honeybee is comprised of some 24 races or sub-species. The African honeybee, sometimes referred to as ‘Killer bee’, is a race of the western honeybee and can therefore cross-breed.
Bees collect pollen and nectar. Pollen is the protein source needed for bee brood development while nectar is the carbohydrate source providing energy.
Nectar is a sugar solution produced by flowers containing about 80% water and 20% sugars. Foraging bees store the nectar in the ‘honey sac’ where the enzyme invertase will change complex sugars into simple sugars called mono-saccharides. Upon return to the hive, the foraging bee will disgorge the partially converted nectar solution and offer it to other bees. Housekeeping bees will complete the enzymatic conversion, further removing water until the honey solution contains between 14 – 20% water.
Honey is too dry for any microbes to live in. Honey is non-perishable and can be kept indefinitely in a cool, dry place.
The flavor, aroma and color of honey is determined by the floral source. For example, buckwheat honey is almost black while fireweed honey is almost colorless.
Unlike other bees, honeybees can communicate details about the location, quality and quantity of food sources. This allows honeybees to access and utilize food sources efficiently at great distances.
Honeybees maintain temperatures in the brood nest of between 30º C and 34º C, even in the middle of winter.
The honeybee colony is comprised of one queen, thousands of worker bees and a few hundred male bees called drones. Colony size varies according to season and condition of the colony.
Several diseases including viruses, various microbes and mites can affect the honeybee.
Honeybees are used in pollination and play a critical role in the production of many crops, representing a value of over $14 billion per year in North America.
