Perga

In almost every home you can find at least a small jar of honey or other beekeeping product. One of the most useful is bee bread (or bee bread). It is used in folk medicine and has the property of not causing allergies. After purchasing such a valuable product, the housewife wonders how best to store it, what conditions are most suitable for this, and what is the maximum shelf life.

Different storage methods

Ideal conditions for beebread in the home environment are difficult to reproduce and maintain. However, it is worth making every effort to preserve this valuable product. According to beekeepers, bee bread is best stored in three states: in honeycombs, granules and ground.

Storage in honeycombs

This is a natural state and retains the greatest amount of healing properties. Eating is possible without removing it from the honeycomb - by sucking and chewing it along with beebread. The disadvantages include an extremely short shelf life and difficulties in creating optimal conditions. Honeycombs often attract wax moths or become covered with mold. Let's consider the basic, necessary parameters for bee bread in honeycombs:

temperature. Its range should be between +1 and +5 degrees. When the temperature rises, larvae form;
humidity. The optimal figure is no more than 30%. If this level is exceeded, mold forms on the product, if it decreases, the honeycombs dry out;
place. A dark and dry room without foreign odors.

If all criteria are carefully observed, the shelf life in honeycombs does not exceed six months.

Important! To repel wax moths, it is recommended to place a vessel with 75% vinegar essence next to the frames.

Granules

This method is considered optimal. Breadbread is removed from the honeycomb manually or using an automatic machine. The result is clean granules, free of wax and other contaminants. This product does not spoil for up to a year. Storage conditions:

temperature. The granules do not respond to changes in temperature and do not require special conditions for this indicator;
humidity. Increased - can spoil the granules, so do not store them in the refrigerator. Decreasing humidity will not affect the healing properties in any way;
place. The best option would be a shelf in a dry and dark pantry.

There is no need to tightly close the lid, blocking the access of oxygen. Bee bread granules should be kept in a container with good air circulation or in a canvas bag.

In ground condition

Another reliable and proven way to store bee bread for a long time. You can grind the product using a meat grinder or blender. It is important to remember that when crushed, some of the beneficial properties are irretrievably lost. To preserve bee bread throughout the year, the following conditions must be met:

temperature. Best of all - at room temperature;
humidity. This indicator is still one of the main factors. High humidity leads to rapid spoilage;
place. In a tightly closed, airtight jar. This jar must be placed in a dark and dry room.

A mixture of ground bee bread and honey significantly increases the shelf life of the product. However, it may cause allergic reactions.

Bee bread: shelf life in granules

There is another way to prepare bee bread for use: in the form of granules extracted from honeycombs and dried. It is the most labor-intensive, which is why it costs the most. However, it has one undoubted advantage - the ability to accurately dose the drug when taking it. And since beebread has high levels of biogenic activity, the issue of proper administration with precise adherence to doses comes to the fore:

Dry granules of small size (up to 1.5 cm) are thoroughly cleaned of wax and dead particles and dried;
The dried product is stored in a glass container, open or covered with canvas fabric in 1-2 layers;
Humidity should not exceed 25%, and 10% is optimal. These conditions must be met, since even a dried product contains a certain percentage of moisture.

The temperature requirements are not so strict, since the almost complete absence of moisture makes the product the most stable. Even in hot conditions, beebread will only dry out slightly and lose weight. However, all valuable components in the dry matter will be retained.

Important! Granulated bee bread is the most convenient, safe, although more expensive type of bee bread. But even in this condition and if all requirements are met, it is recommended to store bee bread for no more than a year.

Storage conditions

The shelf life of bee bread directly depends on external indicators. Under natural conditions (in the honeycombs of a hive) it is stored for no more than a year. After extraction, oxidation processes in air begin, and some of the beneficial properties are lost. The housewife’s task is to prevent spoilage as much as possible and preserve the valuable product.

Tara

The best choice is hermetically sealed glass jars. Lids can be either metal or plastic. You can also use food-grade plastic containers. It is necessary to check the tightness of their closure and the absence of foreign odors inside. Another suitable container is vacuum bags. After they are depressurized, the entire product is poured into another container.

Important! For safety, bee bread must be packaged in several containers, rather than storing the entire volume in one.

The main criterion for a suitable container is tightness. For this reason, paper or plastic bags are absolutely not suitable. The exception is well-dried granules; they can be kept in canvas bags. In this case, temperature and humidity conditions must be carefully observed.

Temperature

This indicator, as a rule, does not play a decisive role. A range of +1 to +5 degrees is acceptable. Dry bee bread will also be stored well at room temperature. You shouldn't keep it in the refrigerator. There is always high humidity inside the chamber - this is one of the main enemies.

Two extremes should also be avoided - freezing and exposure to open sunlight . In the first case, some of the beneficial properties are lost, in the second, it dries out excessively, which also affects its usefulness.

Humidity

This indicator is one of the main ones. The shelf life of beebread and the presence of its beneficial properties directly depend on it. The optimal humidity level should be 30%. If the indicator is exceeded, mold forms; if it decreases, the product dries out. It is unacceptable to store all forms of bee bread in a garage, balcony, barn or other unheated premises.

How to use bee bread correctly

To get the maximum benefit from taking a valuable bee product, you must carefully follow the recommended doses, and also study possible contraindications. Bee bread has very few of them, since it is the lowest allergenic among all beekeeping products. And it is even used to treat allergies.

The main contraindication is individual intolerance. Therefore, they begin taking it with a minimum dose, carefully monitoring the body’s reaction. For some pathologies (oncology, uterine fibroids, increased anxiety, Graves' disease), it is recommended to take bee bread only after consulting a doctor. Standard dosage regimen:

Average doses for treatment – 1 tsp. shortly before or after (depending on indications) a meal. The course of treatment is 1 month, then a month break and repeat if necessary. If you are not sure about the correctness of your actions, visit an apitherapist;
For the purpose of prevention, administration is carried out in half doses, and its duration is 15 days in the spring and autumn periods. Some additionally carry out prevention in winter;
Children are given bee bread in greatly reduced doses - 0.25 of the adult norm, and a mandatory medical consultation is carried out regarding the age limits;
A portion of bee bread is dissolved in the mouth without drinking anything, and after taking it, do not drink or eat anything for another 30 minutes.

If all conditions are met, the shelf life of bee bread does not exceed 12 months. And although it can be stored longer, the medicinal properties of such a product are questioned, and the effect of taking it is minimal.

Publication date: various

How to store honey with beebread?

When mixing ground bee bread with honey, the shelf life increases significantly. One part of bee bread will require one third part of fresh, liquid honey. It is believed that this product can be stored indefinitely. Actually this is not true. After a year, almost all beneficial properties are lost and further storage becomes useless.

The mixture with honey can be stored at room conditions . No special indicators of temperature and humidity are required. The best container would be a clean glass jar.

Bee bread is one of the most valuable beekeeping products. It has a number of useful properties. However, almost half of consumers lose these qualities during improper storage. Following simple tips will help optimize all the necessary conditions and factors, preserving all the natural strength of the product.

General conditions for ensuring safety

Bee bread does not lose its beneficial properties for a fairly long period of time - from 12 to 14 months. Of course, subject to a number of requirements. The following is a selection of tips and recommendations on how to properly store beebread:

Maintain humidity levels. Excessive dampness and excessive aridity are the main enemies of beebread. That is why it is recommended to keep it in storage rooms away from heaters and other heating devices. Suitable humidity is 30-35%.
Observe temperature conditions. The optimal level is considered to be from zero to six degrees. That is why it is not recommended to keep bee bread in the refrigerator - the temperature in it fluctuates and can drop below 0.
Choose suitable cookware. Containers made of high-quality thick glass increase shelf life. Please note that the volume of the vessel should be no more than 0.5 liters.

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These are general recommendations that will ensure the safety of the product.

In what form is it better to store bee bread?

It was already mentioned above that the shelf life of bee bread is determined by its type (in honeycombs, in granules, etc.). But which variety is most convenient in everyday life? We will try to answer this question further.

In the form of a paste. This option involves mixing bee bread with natural liquid honey until a consistency similar to a paste is formed. Beebread grains are passed through a meat grinder or blender, diluted with sweet nectar in a ratio of three to one and mixed thoroughly.

Where to store bee bread

Some varieties of bee bread are not recommended to be refrigerated, but the temperature requirements for storage are quite strict - from 0 to 6 degrees. Where can you place the vessels with beebread?

in the pantry - an ideal option, protected from direct sunlight and mold;
in the hallway - an alternative for those who do not have a storage room;
in the vestibule there is only one condition: it must be well heated.

Many people try to store beebread on balconies or loggias, but this is not the best option. In winter, they are not protected from freezing, but in summer, on the contrary, from overheating.

Bee bread storage

Bee bread must be stored in such a way that its quality does not deteriorate. So that all useful substances are preserved unchanged. Its therapeutic effect depends on the storage conditions of beebread. Despite the fact that beebread is sterile, it contains lactic acid and natural antibiotic substances that prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi, it is still advisable to store it in a cool place, even better in the refrigerator, in a drawer for vegetables and fruits and observe the shelf life of beebread .

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Storage conditions.

Bee bread requires a certain temperature and humidity for storage. Beebread is hygroscopic and it is advisable to store beebread in an airtight, well-closed container so that moisture does not affect the beebread. You can place the bee bread in a paper bag and put this bag in another plastic bag. Bee bread has a pleasant taste and is loved by all sorts of pests. This also affects the storage conditions of beebread. During long-term storage, bee bread should be inspected periodically. It does not like beebread and the presence of strong odors; it absorbs them well. Direct sunlight also affects the shelf life of beebread.

On an industrial scale,

To keep beebread longer, it is treated with gamma radiation. This does not affect the beneficial properties of bee bread, so it can be stored at room temperature. A dry place is required, away from air and direct sunlight. Bee bread has a shelf life of 1 year. Beebread can not be removed from the honeycomb, but can be consumed by chewing the honeycomb along with beebread. This is the most natural way to use bee bread, without human intervention, but such bee bread has disadvantages when stored. With high humidity, the honeycombs become moldy, they can be eaten by wax moth larvae, and chewing such frames is not very pleasant, since bees place bee bread primarily in old black honeycombs. In addition to wax and beebread, there are merva-shirts of brood cocoons. Bee bread extracted from honeycombs is stored much better. The shelf life of bee bread affects the content and quality of its nutrients. If bee bread has a shelf life of more than a year, then it gradually loses its biological activity and becomes useless.

In small apiaries,

Usually bee bread is not subjected to any processing and bee bread must be stored in a cold place (refrigerator), also in closed packaging, without exposure to air or foreign odors. The shelf life of bee bread is 1 year.

Removing beebread from honeycombs.

In the hive, bees store bee bread in honeycombs sealed on top with wax caps (caps). To extract beebread from honeycombs on an industrial scale, special machines are usually used. This is a whole technological chain consisting of a dryer for bee bread, a structure for extracting bee bread and a scarifier-apparatus for scratching wax caps and obtaining bee bread in granules. First, the bee bread in the honeycomb is dried to 10-15% moisture, then cooled to -1 degree Celsius. They are loaded into a special bunker, where the beebread in the honeycomb is crushed, and a wax-beebread mixture is obtained, which is then sifted through a special sieve and separated: one layer contains beebread in granules, the other a wax mass, which is then melted into wax. In small apiaries where there is no mechanization of the process. To extract beebread, use the same sequence (drying, freezing, grinding, sifting) only using a household grinder and sieve.

There is a way to obtain bee bread without freezing. After pumping out the honey, the beebread frame is put back into the hive for drying by the bees, then after 2-3 days it is taken out and the beebread is removed from the honeycombs manually. This is a rather labor-intensive process, but the greatest biological activity of the product is preserved.

Storage Features

Bee bread is made using bees and flower pollen. Once the pollen is collected, it is transferred to the hive and placed in the comb. Their cells are closed with wax and, under conditions of complete sealing, the process of fermentation and preservation is carried out under the influence of honey. At the end of the difficult process, bread appears.

Insects know how to store beebread for a long time. Bee bread closed in honeycombs can be stored for no more than a year. When the bee product is removed from the honeycomb, the shelf life will depend on the conditions under which the product is kept.

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