Pollen BankPollen Bank


Active Ingredients & Pollen

Commercial pollen preparations contain varying amounts of both live and dead pollens, anthers, and other miscellaneous contaminants, such as sand, dirt, bud scales, petals and other plant parts. In most cases, contaminants comprise the majority of a pollen preparation and they vary from year-to-year, between varieties, and even between lots of the same variety.

Active Ingredients: They are the most important property of a pollen preparation. Without knowledge of the number of live pollens in a preparation, you have no idea of its quality, your dose, active ingredients, or cost of the pollen.

VPPG: The number of Viable Pollens Per Gram measures the number of active ingredients in your shipment. For example, our label will tell you how much pollen is in your shipment: e.g. 8.0 million VPPG.

VPPA: How many Viable Pollens Per Acre you apply is the "dose." Doses vary according to your needs, the VPPG and the quantity (grams) of a pollen preparation applied per acre. Calculation of your dose and use of a consistent amount each bloom period will improve consistency from year-to-year.

DOSE: To determine your dose per acre, multiply the grams you apply by the VPPG. Then, divide the result by the number of acres of trees in bloom. For example:

8.0_Million VPPG X_2000_grams = 400 million Viable Pollens Per Acre

40 acres

Knowledge of the VPPG and VPPA values are keys to obtaining the most profit and consistency from pollen you apply to your bees.

Remember: No two ‘Pollen Preparations’ are the same!