Propolis – properties and uses

Propolis – properties and uses

The propolis (in Greek “pro-polis” means “for the city”, “to defend the city”, while in Latin “to clean”, “to paint”) is a substance of provenance and varied composition collected by bees on buds and bark of different species such as: poplar, spruce, pine, white fir, plum, oak, elm, willow, horse chestnut, ash, etc. .. Propolis contains various aromatic substances of the polyphenolic type, essential oils such as terpenes and various other compounds.
Among the most important compounds we remember fats, sterols, amino acids, polysaccharides, vitamins A and B, trace elements and lactones; their presence is due to the pollen that is contained in this product in a percentage around 5%.

The main properties of propolis are antibiotic, antioxidant and anti-rash, antifungal, antiviral, anesthetizing, healing, immunostimulant, protective and stimulating vessel for intestinal peristalsis.
For the collection of propolis, a scraper can be provided. This process leads to contain large percentages of wax, fragments of bees and other foreign bodies. For this reason, in order to be able to sell it, we must proceed to careful cleaning.
Another possible procedure is to use a frame with the dimensions of the attic, to replace it, with a mesh of about 2 mm on it. In this way the bees, being without the upper part of the hermetic apiary, will provide themselves to propolisage the frame that will eventually be withdrawn covered with propolis. There are commercially available devices designed for this purpose.