The pollen mass of the pollen group just collected by the bees is about 20%, and it is prone to fungal infection and mold deterioration at room temperature. It is generally believed that the water content of the pollen is below 5% to prevent mildew. The water content of commercial pollen needs to be 4%. The commonly used drying methods are the following:
1. Sun drying
The bee pollen is evenly spread on bamboo rafts, mats, white cloth or white paper, about 10 mm thick, and then covered with a layer of white cloth, placed in the sun under the sun, put away in the evening, the sun 3 to 5 days, the pollen was hard particles Shape, can not be broken by hand.
2. Chemical drying
Put a proper amount of chemical desiccant at the bottom of the glass dryer, spread a layer of absorbent paper or white cloth on the griddle, put the pollen cluster on it, cover it and place it for several days. Drying 1 kg of pollen requires 2 kg of discolored silica gel, or 1 kg of calcium chloride, or 1 kg of anhydrous magnesium sulfate. Desiccant after absorbing water, can be heated and dried, and used repeatedly, but the drying time is long and the efficiency is low.
3. Heating and drying
Spread a cloth on the soil of the bandits and spread a layer of 10-20 mm thick pollen, heat and dry.
4. Far-infrared drying
The far-infrared pollen drying oven developed by the Bee Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences uses direct-heating far-infrared heating elements, which has the features of low power consumption and high thermal efficiency. When used, install according to the instructions. Put 500 to 750 grams of pollen into each of the four pollen drawers. The amount of pollen in each drawer should be approximately equal and the entire drawer should be evenly covered. When used for the first time, the temperature of each drawer is determined according to the specification, the temperature is set at 40-45°C, and it is adjusted several times until the temperature of the pollen layer is maintained at 40-45°C. At regular intervals, observe the temperature of the pollen and adjust the temperature control knob to keep the temperature stable. After drying for 2 to 3 hours, the upper and lower drawers are exchanged to make the pollen more uniform.