JP2021132631A - Feed for insect and production method of feed for insect - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide feed for insects which is suitable feed for insects such as honeybees which eat honey, and can be handled easily; and to provide a production method of such feed for insects.SOLUTION: Provided is feed for insects, which is amorphous glassy solid matter, molded as granulated feed candy by mixing glucose, sucrose and water, heating and dissolving them at 100 to 180°C, and cooling them in a die. The feed is suitable as feed for insects such as honeybees that are fed with honey, and is used as feed given to such insects during a period when there are no flowers of plants. The feed together with a desiccant can be stored for a long period by being packed into a bag, which hardly causes honey leakage unlike a conventional honey hive and insect damages.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

The present invention relates to an insect feed used for breeding insects that feed on nectar such as honeybees and a method for producing an insect feed.

Conventionally, insects such as honeybees have been used for mating garden crops such as fruit trees and vegetables. In particular, honeybees are bred all over the world by agricultural workers such as beekeepers, and are widely used not only for crossing plants but also for producing honey and royal jelly.

Bees feed on nectar and pollen, so they breed and increase the power of the bee swarm during the season when plants bloom and there are abundant food sources for insects such as nectar and pollen. be able to. In Japan, during the warm season from spring to autumn, various plants bloom according to the season, making it an environment where honeybees can easily inhabit. However, in winter and midsummer, it is not possible to obtain sufficient nectar, which is the food for honeybees, so honeybees survive by eating the honey stored in the nest.

In addition, some honeybees for mating are bred in a closed space such as a plastic greenhouse. In that case, the nectar obtained from the crops in the greenhouse is insufficient for food, so additional feed is required. For example, in a strawberry farm that uses a greenhouse, bees are put in the greenhouse for mating. Since strawberry nectar alone is insufficient for bee food, bees will starve to death and the colony will collapse unless sufficient food is given. Similarly, in outdoor breeding, bees that do not store enough food in winter and summer will decline and, in the worst case, die.

In order to avoid such a situation, honeybees are fed with artificial food as a substitute food for honey. The main components of honey are glucose and fructose, which are produced by enzymatically decomposing sucrose derived from nectar. As an alternative to this honey, an aqueous solution of sugar or a candy-like solution obtained by boiling the aqueous solution to reduce the water content is used. In addition, corn syrup and the like are also used as food for honeybees. The snout of a honey bee has a structure suitable for licking and eating nectar, and such a liquid bait is generally used.

In the beekeeping industry, honey nests are used to efficiently maintain large colonies. A honey nest is a nest board filled with honey stored by honey bees, which is extracted from the nest box and stored. Unlike liquid food prepared by yourself, you can feed by putting the stored food in the hive as it is, and it has the advantage of being simple and easy to handle without the trouble of preparation and feeding. Widely used in. Honey bees are also suitable for maintaining colonies without weakening, as they do not require the process of bees concentrating in the nest to make honey, as compared to liquid sugars such as aqueous sugar solutions.

However, since honeybees are obtained by collecting and storing honeybees made during nesting activities, the place and time when they can be manufactured are limited. Therefore, if a honey nest is made in spring and stored until winter, pests such as Greater wax moth may enter during the summer, which makes long-term storage difficult. Since it is made by a group of bees, it may transmit infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. Furthermore, since the food contained in the honey nest is honey and is liquid, care must be taken not to cause liquid leakage during storage or transportation. In addition to the storage cost in a large refrigerator that is being stockpiled, there are also incidental costs such as transportation costs from the production area to the demand area, so improvement was desired for economic reasons as well. ..

By the way, artificial substitute baits for these bees have also been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a feed for soft honeybees containing sugars and thickeners. Further, a sugar candy obtained by solidifying a concentrated sugar solution disclosed as a background technique of Patent Document 1 is also conventionally known. Patent Document 2 discloses a bee feed containing 1-kestose, oligosaccharides and the like. According to the techniques of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a feed having good storage stability and honey bee palatability can be obtained as compared with liquid sugar and honey bee nests.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-85151 JP-A-2018-99065

However, since the conventional feed as described above is a liquid one containing a large amount of water, further improvement in ease of handling for preparation, transportation, storage and the like has been required.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a material for insects which is in a solid state with high storage stability and easy to handle, and also has excellent palatability.

The insect feed of the present invention is characterized by being "an amorphous glassy solid containing two or more kinds of sugars selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose and sucrose".

According to the present invention, two or more kinds of sugars are mixed from glucose, fructose and sucrose to form an insect feed which is an amorphous glassy solid. Glucose, fructose and sucrose are suitable as foods for insects that feed on nectar, but when these monosaccharides, disaccharides and other small-molecular-weight saccharides are solidified into solids, they tend to crystallize, which is a preference of insects. In addition to being low in nature, it tends to be brittle and difficult to handle. On the other hand, according to the insect feed of the present invention, crystallization can be suppressed and an amorphous glass state can be obtained by blending two or more kinds of saccharides. The amorphous glass state has high hygroscopicity and tends to soften when moisture adheres to the surface. Therefore, it is easy to eat even for insects such as honeybees that have a snout for licking. In addition, since it has high hygroscopicity, it is easy to emit an odor, the effect of attracting insects is enhanced, and the palatability is improved. The insect feed of the present invention becomes more favorably eaten by insects as compared to crystalline sugar or rock candy. Further, since it is in an amorphous glass state, it is less likely to be cracked or broken during transportation or when a force is applied than a crystalline solid substance, so that it is easy to handle.

Further, the insect feed of the present invention may be one in which "the compounding ratio of sugars is 90% by weight or more of the whole".

Glucose, fructose, and sucrose are contained in nectar and are the main components of honey. As a feed for insects, a feed containing a large amount of these sugars is preferable. By the way, in candy balls and sugar confectionery that humans eat, starch syrup is generally blended in order to make it into a glass state. While starch syrup is mainly composed of maltose, honeybees cannot digest and absorb maltose well, so if honeybees eat starch syrup, their health may be impaired. In addition, starch syrup has a low effect of attracting honeybees in terms of odor and taste, and since honeybees do not bite well, food does not progress and the activity of honeybees slows down. Therefore, it is desirable that the feed for raising insects in an environment where food is scarce, such as in winter or in a greenhouse, contains as little components as possible that are unsuitable for feeding insects such as starch syrup. According to this configuration, 90% by weight or more of sugars suitable for feeding by insects are contained, so that the risk of impairing the health of insects can be suppressed. In addition, although these sugars account for the majority, they are amorphous, so that they can emit an odor that appropriately attracts insects and maintain good insect palatability.

The insect feed having this composition may contain components other than the predetermined sugars. For example, it may contain sugars such as trehalose, kestose and other oligosaccharides, sugar alcohols, amino acids, proteins, minerals, vitamins, yeast, waste honey sugar and the like. In addition, extracts and fine powders derived from grains and beans such as soybeans and corn, fruit juices, royal jelly, royal jelly extracts, pollen, pollen extracts, honey, chlorella, and other processed products derived from animals and plants, and industrially produced. It may contain components, and may contain various components, not limited to these.

Further, the insect feed of the present invention may be "molded into granules having a major axis of 3 cm or less".

Here, "granular" means a shape close to a sphere, but it does not have to be a shape close to a true sphere, and may be a gostone shape, a small disk shape, or a rugby ball shape. It may be a shape close to a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped, or it may be another distorted shape or an irregular shape, and it is not limited to a specific shape, but a rounded shape is easier to mold. Desirable from the viewpoint of pod strength. Further, the "major axis" means the maximum dimension in the radial direction of a granular object.

According to this configuration, since the insect feed is granular with a major axis of 3 cm or less, it can be handled with an instrument such as a shovel or tongs, or with bare hands, and the feeding work becomes easy. It is also convenient because it can be packaged, stored, and transported using paper bags, plastic bags, cans, boxes, and other containers.

Further, since it is formed in relatively small particles, the surface area is larger than that in the case where it is formed in a large mass or plate shape, and it is more excellent in hygroscopicity. It can be suitable for insects to feed on. Therefore, the major axis dimension of the insect feed is preferably 3 cm or less, more preferably 2.5 cm or less, and particularly preferably 2 cm or less. If it is 2.5 cm or less, more grains can be scooped at one time when scooping or scooping by hand, and it becomes easier to handle when feeding. It also makes it easier for insects to eat. When it is 2 cm or less, the bulk density is further increased, and the storage property when packed in a packaging container or the like is excellent. In addition, since each grain is consumed relatively quickly, stickiness due to moisture absorption over time and quality deterioration such as crystallization are less likely to occur.

The insect feed of the present invention may be "for the two kinds of saccharides contained, the mixing ratio of the first saccharide and the second saccharide is 85: 15-60: 40 by weight".

According to this configuration, the insect feed can be more easily solidified and molded into an amorphous glass state. For example, even if 100% glucose is heated and melted and then cooled and hardened, it is sticky and difficult to mold, which makes it unsuitable as a feed for insects. On the other hand, when the blending ratio of this composition is adopted, an amorphous solid substance can be easily obtained when cooled after being heated and dissolved, so that a better feed for insects can be obtained. The blending ratio of the first saccharide and the second saccharide is preferably in the range of 85: 15-60: 40, more preferably in the range of 80:20 to 65:35, and 80:20 to 80:20. It is more preferably in the range of 70:30. With such a blending ratio, stickiness and crystallization are suppressed, and it becomes easy to mold as an amorphous solid glass state.

Further, the insect feed of the present invention may be "the first saccharide is sucrose and the second saccharide is glucose".

According to this configuration, stickiness and crystallization can be suppressed more effectively without impairing the palatability of insects.

The insect feed of the present invention can be more preferably used in any one insect of honeybees, bumblebees, bees, stingless bees and green bottle flies.

In order to efficiently pollinate crops with insects, it is necessary to breed a large number of solids of insects that feed on nectar and pollen at the same time. In an environment where there is a shortage of food to maintain such a herd, such as in winter or in a greenhouse, it is essential to have a feed that is easy to handle and has excellent feeding efficiency for insects. Therefore, the insect feed of the present invention is particularly useful in the breeding of honeybees, bumblebees, bees, stingless bees and stingless bees.

Honeybees are insects belonging to the genus Apis dorsata, and examples thereof include Japanese honeybees, other honeybees, honeybees, African honeybees, honeybees, black honeybees, Apis dorsata, Himalayan honeybees, etc. It's not a thing. It may also be a subspecies of these or a hybrid of these.

Bumblebees are insects belonging to the genus Bumblebee, and examples thereof include bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, bumblebees, and bumblebees. It's not a thing. It may also be a subspecies of these or a hybrid of these.

Examples of the bees include, but are not limited to, snails, bees, bees, bees, white bees, white bees, bees, and bees. It may also be a subspecies of these or a hybrid of these.

Examples of the stingless bee include, but are not limited to, the stingless bee, the stingless bee, the tetragonula carbonaria, and the tetragonula hooking bee. It may also be a subspecies of these or a hybrid of these.

Green bottle flies are insects belonging to the genus Green bottle fly, and examples thereof include, but are not limited to, the common green bottle fly, the green bottle fly, the green bottle fly, and the sheep fly. It may also be a subspecies of these or a hybrid of these. Honeybees prefer to eat spoilage and are widely recognized as pests that carry harmful fungi. Breeding and use are expanding as insects for pollination of agricultural products in situations unsuitable for honeybees, such as pollination of house-grown strawberries.

Although examples are omitted, it goes without saying that the insect feed of the present invention can be applied to insects that feed on nectar and have an ecology mainly containing glucose, fructose, and sucrose, in addition to the above-mentioned insects. .. For example, it can be applied to the breeding of Cetoniinae and the like.

Further, the insect feed of the present invention may be "encapsulated in a packaging material".

Since the insect feed of this composition is a solid substance of amorphous saccharides with high hygroscopicity, it is less likely to be affected by the moisture in the air by enclosing it in the packaging material, and the storage stability and handleability are further improved. can do.

In the method for producing an insect feed of the present invention, "a feed raw material containing 90% by weight or more of two or more kinds of sugars selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose and sucrose is heated to 100 to 180 ° C. to be liquid or mucilage. It includes a heating step of forming the sucrose and a cooling step of cooling and solidifying the liquid or viscous feed material. "

According to the method for producing an insect feed having this constitution, it is possible to produce an amorphous solid insect feed containing two or more kinds of sugars as main components from glucose, fructose and sucrose. By mixing the raw material sugars, heating them to 100 to 180 ° C., and then cooling them, it is possible to prevent crystallization when they harden and to produce an amorphous solid glassy substance. The insect feed thus produced is excellent in nutrition and palatability, and is easy to handle during storage and feeding. The above heating step may be performed at a temperature of 100 to 180 ° C., preferably 110 to 160 ° C. in consideration of manufacturing efficiency such as required time and the performance of general equipment, and 130 to 140 ° C. is particularly preferable. Suitable.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an excellent feed for insects, which contains a nutritional component suitable for breeding insects, has a good taste of insects, and has a solid and easy-to-handle property.

Hereinafter, the insect feed of the present invention will be described in detail.

The feed candy, which is an embodiment of the feed for insects of the present invention, is formed in the form of a solid candy using sugar as a raw material, and has a so-called gostone-shaped granule having a diameter of about 17 mm and a thickness of about 12 mm. It is similar to the candy that humans eat. It is colorless and transparent, but slightly whitish. It is used to prevent insects that feed on nectar, such as honeybees, from starvation, mainly in winter and summer when there are no flowers.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of these Examples, and as long as the effect is achieved without deviating from the gist thereof, various insect feeds are used. Can be applied. Table 1 shows the blending amounts of the raw materials of each Example and Comparative Example (unit: kg).

(Example 1) A raw material obtained by mixing 6 kg of sucrose, 2 kg of glucose, and 2 liters of water was heated to over about 100 ° C. in a melting tank to uniformly dissolve the raw material, and the foreign matter was removed through a strainer and sent to a vacuum kettle. In a vacuum kettle, the pressure was reduced to 620 mmHg at 130 to 140 ° C., and the dissolved raw material was boiled down to remove water to form a highly viscous candy. The candy-shaped soft dough was cooled, kneaded with a kneader, poured into a mold of a molding apparatus, cooled, and molded into granules. In each device, vegetable oils and fats and talc were appropriately used in order to smoothly release the raw materials, and the feed candy also contained a small amount of vegetable oils and fats and talc. Each feed candy was formed into a go stone mold as described above by a mold. The finished feed candy was glassy and did not crystallize.

(Example 2) A go stone type feed candy was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a raw material in which 8 kg of sucrose, 2 kg of glucose and 2 liters of water were mixed was used. In Comparative Example 2, stickiness was suppressed and it was generally glassy. Some crystallization was observed during long-term storage, but there were no handling problems such as disintegration.

(Comparative Example 1) An attempt was made to make a go stone-shaped feed candy in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a raw material in which 4 kg of sucrose, 4 kg of glucose, and 2 liters of water were mixed was used. However, because it was very sticky, Comparative Example 1 could not be molded into granules even by using the above-mentioned manufacturing apparatus.

(Comparative Example 2) A go stone-shaped feed candy was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a raw material obtained by mixing 9 kg of sucrose, 1 kg of glucose, and 2 liters of water was used. In Comparative Example 2, the degree of crystallization after molding was high, and the surface was white and free-flowing. I didn't eat it very aggressively even if I gave it to bees, probably because it didn't smell so much and the sweetness was low.

(Comparative Example 3) An attempt was made to make a go stone-shaped feed candy in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a raw material in which 6 kg of sucrose and 2 liters of water were mixed was used. However, in Comparative Example 3, when the crystallization was remarkably solidified, it crumbled into pieces, and molding was impossible with the above-mentioned manufacturing apparatus.

(Comparative Example 4) An attempt was made to make a go stone-shaped feed candy in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a raw material in which 6 kg of glucose and 2 liters of water were mixed was used. However, Comparative Example 4 was sticky and extremely difficult to mold. In addition, crystallization progressed over time, and the palatability of honeybees decreased.

As shown in Table 2, the feed candy of Example 1, Example 2, and Comparative Example 2 had a small surface stickiness and the adhesion between the candy grains was suppressed, but Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 3 and Comparative Example 4 was sticky, and it was difficult to form it into granules. Comparative Example 2 crystallized until the surface became whitish.

The feed candy of Examples 1 and 2 did not show crystallization and became a homogeneous glass. In Example 1, even after bagged and stored for 3 months, crystallization and grains did not solidify, and the state was maintained in good condition. Also, it did not break just by tapping it lightly. On the other hand, Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 3 and Comparative Example 4 were difficult to mold as feed candy. Further, in Comparative Example 2 and Comparative Example 4, the palatability of honeybees was significantly reduced due to crystallization.

Next, using the feed candy of Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, how to eat honeybees for each feed candy was observed. The results are shown in Table 2. When they were placed side by side in the beehive, the feed candy of Example 1 disappeared earlier than that of Comparative Example 2. The bees did not eat the crystallized feed candy of Comparative Example 2 at all, but they preferred to eat the feed candy of Example 1.

The palatability of the feed candy of Comparative Example 3 and the feed candy of Comparative Example 4 was also investigated by observing how the bees were eaten. Since molding was difficult for Comparative Example 3, commercially available rock candy containing only sucrose as a main component was used instead as in Comparative Example 3. When rock candy and Example 1 were arranged in a bee hive so as to sandwich the nest board, the bees preferred Example 1 to rock candy. In Comparative Example 4, when a feed candy with a sticky surface was prepared and given to the honey bees, the honey bees ate well at first, but the honey bee's palatability decreased after crystallization progressed over time. .. Therefore, Comparative Example 4 is also unsuitable as a feed candy.

The feed candy of Example 1 was packed in a bag made of biaxially stretched polypropylene (OPP) together with a desiccant and stored at room temperature for 3 months, but crystallization and stickiness did not occur, and the state suitable for feed was maintained. Was there.

(Manufacturing Example 1)
In the same manner as in Example 1, a raw material obtained by mixing 6 kg of sucrose, 2 kg of glucose, and 2 liters of water is heated to over about 100 ° C in a pan to uniformly dissolve it, and after removing foreign substances through a strainer, 150 to 150 to again in a pan. It was boiled down at 160 ° C. to remove water and made into a highly viscous candy. After cooling the finished dough, it was formed into a go stone type feed candy by the same process as in Example 1. The finished feed candy was glassy and did not crystallize.

The feed candy of the present invention is not limited to the production methods of Example 1 and Production Example 1 described above, and can be produced by various equipments and processes. It may be boiled at a temperature of 140 ° C. or higher, or 150 ° C. or higher using a vacuum kiln. When a vacuum kiln is used, it may be boiled at a temperature of less than 130 ° C. for a longer period of time, and for example, a feed candy may be produced in a temperature range of 100 to 130 ° C. This is suitable when a raw material that is not suitable for heating at 130 ° C. or higher is included. When a direct-fired or electric pan is used, it can be manufactured at a high temperature of over 160 ° C. in a short time by stirring so that the Maillard reaction does not proceed in the manufacturing process. However, if it is heated to 180 ° C. or higher, it becomes difficult to suppress the scorching due to the Maillard reaction, so that the temperature is preferably less than 180 ° C. In such a heating step, general equipment for producing candy can be used. In addition, the blending amount of the raw materials used can be variously changed as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated.

(Breeding test)
At an apiary in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture, from July to January, when it becomes difficult to obtain nectar and pollen, three groups of bees are fed with the feed candy of Example 1 above to check the maintenance status of the bees. The test was conducted. In this apiary, the colonies that did not feed with liquid sugar etc. usually starve to death during the summer because they do not get enough food in the natural world, whereas the three groups of bees in this test will eventually starve. Was maintained without dying.

According to the feed candy of the embodiment of the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

Since the feed candy is hardened into a solid candy shape, it is easy to handle because liquid leakage does not occur unlike liquid feed such as honey nest and liquid sugar. The cost of transportation and storage can be significantly reduced.

In addition, although it is solid, it is glassy and has appropriate hygroscopicity, and has a higher preference for bees than simple crystalline sucrose or glucose, and can prevent deterioration of the nutritional status of the bee colony. In addition, since crystallization is suppressed and the glass is formed, it does not easily collapse even when an external force is applied and is easy to handle.

Since no starch syrup is used to make the feed candy into a candy-like solid, there is no risk of honey bee health being impaired by indigestion caused by maltose.

When the source of honey suddenly becomes scarce, such as in early summer or late autumn, a phenomenon called bee stealing in which a strong bee swarm robs other bees of honey may occur, and the bees competing for food may be damaged or die. There is a risk of On the other hand, when the feed candy of the present invention is used, the odor is weaker than that of honey, so that the range for attracting bees is narrower than that of the honey nest, and bees are less likely to be stolen.

In addition, even for insects such as stingless bees that do not naturally inhabit Japan and usually die without being able to overwinter, if the breeding environment is prepared, such as in a plastic greenhouse, the feed candy of the present invention can be used. When used as food, starvation can be prevented and the bee swarm can be maintained for a longer period of time.

When feeding a honeybee herd using a feed candy, it may be placed directly in the hive or placed separately near the hive. Bees are harder to eat as you move away from the hive, so it's best to be as close as possible. In a hot and humid climate, it absorbs moisture and dissolves easily, so it is better to put an appropriate amount in the nest box than to put it outside the nest.

Claims (8)

An insect feed containing two or more kinds of sugars selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose and sucrose, and being an amorphous glassy solid. The insect feed according to claim 1, wherein the blending ratio of the sugar is 90% by weight or more of the whole. The insect feed according to claim 1 or 2, which is formed into granules having a major axis of 3 cm or less. Any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the blending ratio of the first saccharide and the second saccharide is 19: 1 to 6: 4 by weight with respect to the two or more kinds of saccharides contained. The insect feed according to item 1. The insect feed according to claim 4, wherein the first saccharide is sucrose and the second saccharide is glucose. The insect feed according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the insect is any one of honeybees, bumblebees, bees, stingless bees and stingless bees. The insect feed according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the feed is enclosed in a packaging material. A heating step of heating a feed raw material containing 90% by weight or more of two or more kinds of sugars selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose and sucrose to 100 to 180 ° C. to make it liquid or mucous.
A method for producing an insect feed, which comprises a cooling step of cooling and solidifying the liquid or mucous feed raw material.