This unit applies to beekeepers that induce the production of royal jelly by honey bees and collect and store the finished product in line with food safety and quality assurance requirements.

ELEMENT

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

1. Prepare to produce and harvest royal jelly

1.1. Hive is assessed for suitability for production of royal jelly.

1.2. Production of royal jelly is stimulated.

1.3. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is selected and used.

1.4. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) hazards associated with working with bees are identified and appropriate action is taken to minimise risks to self and others.

1.5. All equipment used in process of collecting royal jelly is cleaned and sanitised either by heat, alcohol or irradiation according to food safety requirements and enterprise procedures.

2. Collect and store royal jelly

2.1. Personal hygiene requirements are met, including washed hands and clean clothing.

2.2. Wax is cut from selected grafted queen larvae cells just above the royal jelly to aid and speed up collection.

2.3. Larvae are carefully removed from cell with a grafting tool so as not to harm or contaminate jelly, and larvae are discarded.

2.4. Royal jelly is removed from each cell.

2.5. Royal jelly is filtered through fine nylon net to remove traces of wax or larvae.

2.6. Harvested royal jelly is placed into appropriate hygienic containers, avoiding excessive exposure to air, and is refrigerated immediately.

3. Finalise tasks

3.1. Equipment is checked, cleaned and returned to store area.

3.2. Records are made and maintained according to enterprise procedures, and food safety and quality assurance requirements.

Required skills

bee handling

carefully collecting and filtering royal jelly

record keeping

removing larvae

use literacy skills to read, interpret and follow organisational policies and procedures, develop sequenced written instructions, record accurately and legibly information collected and select and apply procedures to a range of tasks

use oral communication skills/language competence to fulfil the job role as specified by the organisation including questioning, active listening, asking for clarification, negotiating solutions and responding to a range of views

use numeracy skills to estimate, calculate and record routine and more complex workplace measures and data

use interpersonal skills to work with others and relate to people from a range of cultural, social and religious backgrounds and with a range of physical and mental abilities.

Required knowledge

bee handling

correct cleaning and sanitation methods

field floral conditions

food safety requirements

role of nurse bees in royal jelly production

quality assurance, including requirements of honey Bee Industry Quality Assurance Program (BQUAL).

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

The evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit must be relevant to workplace operations and satisfy holistically all of the requirements of the performance criteria and required skills and knowledge and include achievement of the following:

graft larvae and stimulate royal jelly production

hygienically collect and store royal jelly

keep records of royal jelly production for food safety and Quality Assurance (QA) requirements.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Competency requires the application of work practices under work conditions. Selection and use of resources for some worksites may differ due to the regional or enterprise circumstances.

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole.

Performance relates to and may include:

all equipment and processes used in commercial production of royal jelly.

Unit sector

Beekeeping

This unit contains employability skills.