29dec95 1753 <pllntip>
SUBJECT: Pollen-Drying Tip
 
To be read only by the hobbyist.
 
How do U dry pollen if U collect less than 50#
a year, as I do, April 1 - October 15?
 
The daily take, never more than a pound, is placed on 8x15"
cookie sheets, with raised sides, no more than eight ounces
to a sheet.
 
The sheets are placed on top of my oil furnace that has a
2'x3' flat surface, about 3-1/2 feet from the floor.  If the
humidity is not too high, the pollen will be sufficiently dry
w/in 48 hours: when pinched, the grains do NOT stick
together.
 
This summer for the first time I used a dehumidier in the
same room (10x15feet) with the door closed door. The pollen
was always dry by the next morn.
 
The equipment was a Coldspot (Sears), 20-pint Automatic
Dehumidifier, Model 3220, Net Wt 52#, 12"x17-5/8"x20-5/8," w/
1/5 H.P. compressor, removing 30 pints water from air every
24 hours at 80oF and 60% relative humidity.
 
[PS After the pollen is dried, I freeze it in one-gallon
plastic bags, closed w/ bread ties, at 0 degrees for 24 hours
to kill the wax moth egg, always present. THIS IS VERY
IMPORTANT, before the pollen is put out for sale in one-pound
glass queenline jars that hold eight ounces for $6.00.]
 
 
 
Jack the B-man
Happy Holidays!