During the flowering of male ginkgo trees, a large number of bees can be seen collecting powder. Pollen collected by bees can be collected by installing flower paintings at the entrance of the hive. Pollen collected in this way can also be used for artificial pollination.
Before pollination, the ovule of Ginkgo biloba will also secrete liquid, which is called "pollination drop". The observation shows that pollination drops can be continuously secreted for 5-7 days, and each ovule can secrete 0.77 microliters per day. The concentration of these pollination drops is not high, the sugar content is generally only 5.0%, and they are not secreted by nectaries. Therefore, they are not so-called "honey", but "dew honey" with relatively high water content.
Because Ginkgo biloba has no gorgeous perianth or tangy aroma to attract bees, its sugar content is less than half of that of ordinary nectar, so bees do not interview female Ginkgo biloba trees under natural conditions.
The technicians of Xuzhou Dafu Bee Products Co., Ltd. started the experiment of collecting "apricot dew honey" from 199 1 on the basis of in-depth study of ginkgo pollination drops, and achieved success. They induced bees to collect by feeding "Ginkgo dew honey". During the 7- 10 days of ginkgo flowering, each bee colony with relay boxes can generally collect 4.0-5.0 kg of "ginkgo dew honey", the highest of which can reach 15.0 kg, and the production capacity is about one third of that of conventional honey plants.
The concentration of honey brewed by "Ginkgo dew honey" can reach 35-37 degrees, at least 34 degrees, which is obviously lower than that of conventional honey (about 4 1-42 degrees). At least 70.0% of these honey can come from ginkgo biloba. The low concentration makes "Ginkgo Dew Honey" easy to ferment. Therefore, it must be refrigerated in time after shaking out.
The technicians of Xuzhou Dafu Bee Products Co., Ltd. also carried out the experiment of ginkgo biloba combined with honey collection to help bees pollinate. The specific method is: before the bee colony starts collecting every day, spray effective pollen on the bees in the hive to make the body hair adhere to the pollen and collect honey. In principle, bees can pollinate when collecting honey as long as the pollen is effective. However, due to the limited number of male flowers and pollen of Ginkgo biloba, there is not so much pollen for spraying every day. In addition, artificial pollination is widely spread in various places, and its real effect is difficult to be confirmed.
"Ginkgo dew honey" is completely different from the patented "Ginkgo honey". The patented "Ginkgo honey" is a kind of honey with a certain ginkgo fragrance, which is made by grinding ginkgo seeds into fine foam and adding ordinary honey or sugar water in a certain proportion.
The collection of "Ginkgo dew honey" coincides with the end of rape flowering period, and other honey-source flowers have not yet opened. Therefore, when keeping bees in ginkgo producing areas, bees can be induced to collect "ginkgo dew honey" to increase their income. Xuzhou Dafu Bee Products Co., Ltd. can collect 4-5 tons of "Ginkgo dew honey" every year. If all bees are put in, it can produce more than 20.0 tons of ginkgo dew honey.
Whether "Ginkgo dew honey" also contains effective medicinal components unique to Ginkgo biloba deserves further study. If we can develop a series of new natural drugs by using "Ginkgo dew honey", it will certainly make greater contributions to mankind.