Development of biotechnological method for temporary isolation of filled honeycombs to increase the productivity of honey collection and the quality of bee hone

The honey productivity of bee colonies during the bribe from the white acacia was increased by the method of selection of unripe honey from the nest. Empty honeycombs were substituted in their place. On the fifth day of honey collection from white acacia in the families of the research group, a third one with empty combs was placed between two buildings. Between buildings 2 and 3, a bee limiter was placed, allowing worker bees to easily get into building 2, but did not allow them to come back. Sampling of honey, analysis of physical and chemical parameters was carried out according to DSTU 4497: 2005 "Natural honey. Technical conditions" (DSTU 4497: 2005, 2007). The use of a biotechnological technique for the temprary isolation of filled cells with unripe honey to increase the honey yield by an average of 26.6% and preserve the quality of the finished product has been substantiated. At the time of bribe from white acacia, freshly brought nectar contained an average of 23.57% sucrose and 38.95% water. Until the end of the first day of the experiment, under the intense influence of the receiving bees, 13.35% of the water is removed on the product, due to which a rapid increase in the concentration of sucrose occurred.At the final stage of the ninth day of maturation, the bees sealed mature honey with a water content of 16.40%, sucrose - 4.95% and 75.64% monosaccharides. Upon the return of the isolated combs with the immature product to the nest, the bees had access to the product for 3 days, and then on the 4th day they began to seal the cells. Honey in terms of water, monosugar and sucrose content did not differ from the product in the control group of bee colonies. Key words: honeyripening, bees, sucrose, monosaccharides, whiteacacia, nectar.

Numerical methods and image processing techniques for melissopalynological honey analysis

Pollen analysis is a method used for verification of the botanical and geographical honey origin. Currently, much effort is being made to introduce automated systems with the use of image analysis programs. The automatic analysis is impeded by the insufficient depth of field of objects when using a light microscope, however, this can be avoided by using image reconstruction from images obtained from different focal planes. In this method, testing was performed on the normal focus (NF) and extended-depth-of-focus (EDF) images. These two methods were compared and statistically evaluated. The number of pollen grains and selected morphometric characteristics were compared. For EDF images, a higher number of pollen grains was obtained for the analysis, and except for the length/width ratio, a statistically significant difference was observed in the characteristics of pollen grains between the compared NF and EDF methods.

Direct Comparison of Cavity Ring Down Spectrometry and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry for Detection of Sugar Adulteration in Honey Samples

In the last several years, economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of foods including honey has received increased attention. The addition of inexpensive sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar to honey is still encountered despite scientific methods that can routinely detect this type of adulteration. The standard method for detection of these adulterants utilizes isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS); however, this technique requires an elevated degree of technical knowledge for operation as well as a high cost for purchase and maintenance. Cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) has demonstrated potential for this type of analysis and is less expensive with simpler operation. This study evaluates CRDS for the detection of low-cost sweeteners added to honey and compares the performance of CRDS to IRMS. Several honey samples were analyzed, and the advantages and limitations specific to CRDS were evaluated. Overall, the results indicate that CRDS provides a performance comparable to the benchmark technique IRMS for EMA honey analysis.