Of all of the hive products it is propolis that is probably the least understood. Propolis is a resin-ous substance collected by the foraging honeybee from the bark and buds of specific trees and plants. This resin is mixed with the saliva of the honeybee and packed away into her hip pockets or pollen bas-kets. It is here that the mystery begins. And what a mystery! Literally millions of dollars have been spent trying to discover exactly what makes up propolis and how mankind might synthesize this "bee glue".
But try as we might, it cannot be done. Propolis is just too complex. A virtual cocktail of organic compounds including caffeic acid, acacetin, ketone and benzoic acid, all of which are known fighters of inflammation and infection and histamine reactions. Propolis also is rich in vitamin P or Bioflavanoids. These remark-able compounds are being found to heal leaking capillaries and blood vessels among a multitude of other benefits including attacking viruses and tough medically resistant bacteria. Studies from around the world have shown propolis to be healing to teeth and gums, healing to burns and infections and even, to be a killer of cancer cells!
Honeybees use this wonder within their own hive as a building material and a tool for sterilization within the hive. For smaller gaps and cracks in the structure of their hive, these are filled in by the worker bees with propolis. Propolis is used to "glue" the boxes together making them impervious to wind and is also used to "glue" the frames of comb in place making them permanent structures in the mind of the hive.
But perhaps the most remarkable use of propolis by the honeybee is how she uses this amazing substance for sterilization of the hive. Worker honeybees literally line the inside of the hive with propolis and polish the insides of the comb cells there by leaving the cells operating room sterile! Sterility within the hive is of upmost importance and the queen will not lay any eggs unless the cells within the brood comb are sterilized by propolis. The worker bees will also put down a layer of propolis on the "landing pad", where the foraging bees will enter the hive. This is designed to disinfect the feet of the bees as they enter the clean confines of the hive and minimize the risk of infection from the outside world!
It was my father who first taught me the benefits of propolis to the mouth. He began experiencing pain in several teeth and was eventually told by his dentist that he needed to have five root canals. Not one to be excited about visiting dentists or doctors, he began to suck on the propolis which he would scrape from his hives during hive inspections. He had learned from one of his farmer's market customers, a research doctor visiting from Poland and working at one of Chicago's premier hospitals.
This doctor informed my dad that in Eastern Europe, persons suffering from tooth pain packed their problem tooth with propolis to not only provide relief but to heal the tooth. His experience was no different than what the folklore reme-dies relating to propolis promised. When he went back to his dentist one year later for a cleaning, the dentist, remembering the sad state of dad's teeth, was amazed that he had never received the root canals prescribed. In fact, the dentist was utterly amazed that dad's gums did not even bleed when the dental hygienist cleaned his teeth!
When the dentist asked what dad was doing differently, dad told him about his propolis and always having some in his mouth. This angered the dentist particularly since dad told him that he sleeps with propolis stuck to his teeth at night. The problem with using hive products medicinally is that it flies in the face of modern and sophisticated medicine. What has worked for centuries, the readily available and inexpensive, folk-lore remedies, just don't excite the elitist modern medical movement, results be hanged!
When I first began studying propolis and the other hive products, I came across an article in a main stream bee journal describing a scientist studying honeybees opening up a hive and finding a dead mouse. Knowing how obsessive compulsive our beloved friends are when it comes to cleanliness within their hives, the scientist left the dead rodent to see what the bees would do to compensate for the source for decay and bacteria now laying on the bottom board of their hive.
On the next visit to the hive, our intrepid scientist discovered that the honeybees had completely em-balmed the mouse in propolis. The propolis sealed the mouse completely from the hive. After in-vestigating her observations, the scientist found similar stories from old timer beekeepers and then, after digging around in her research found that the ancient Egyptians not only incorporated the use of propolis into their embalming process, but first learned this art from the honeybee and her use of that natural preservative that is propolis. And Propolis is a great preserver, hence the embalmed mouse and pharos. It has also been discovered that propolis was used by a seventeenth century instrument maker named Antonio Stradivari. It seemed Mr. Stradivari understood propolis to be a superb preservative resin and added it to the finish for his famed instruments.
One of the amazing qualities of propolis is that samples from areas of varying flora yield unique products. In recent years, a growing number of apiaries in Brazil have turned away from honey production and toward propolis production in order to feed a ravenous Japanese market. It seems that the Japanese have been studying the effects of propolis on cancer cells and have been impressed with the results. According to their published results, propolis from the jungles around Sao Paulo in Brazil is among the most potent. Known as Brazilian Green this special concoction of rainforest and honeybee goodness has a sweet and pungent aroma that can quickly give even the most ardent admirer a splitting headache. It is only collected by the Africanized honeybee of Brazil. Hives that have been set up near coniferous forests also yield a propolis with plenty of chutzpa. When I first began my research in developing a better tool for harvesting propolis, I noticed that one particular apiary of my father's produced a propolis that was so hot in flavor that it was difficult to keep a small piece in one's mouth.
This sample came from hives located along the Rock River in South Central Wisconsin where pine trees abounded as well as nettles, scrub brush, honey-suckle and virgin Oak trees. Propolis samples from these hives tended to clear one's sinuses much quicker than samples from most any other location. In spite of its peppery flavor, the propolis had an earthy, sweet and floral bouquet that was truly a delight to the pallet. The hot taste of this propo-lis is due to the presence of a large amounts of bioflavonoids within the propolis. This is a very good thing and makes propolis from this location that much more potent!
The beauty of propolis is that unlike the synthetic treatments of modern medicine which do not necessarily only target sickness but will often lead to damage in surrounding tissues and sys-tems, damages that we are told are "only mere side-effects, and nothing to worry about". Propolis is known for its nourishing and support of healthy cells and tissues while at the same time, some of its components are actually capable of inhibiting growth of malignant cells and can even stop the proliferation of these same cells.
Propolis has been trusted and depended upon for thousands of years by even the most re-veared of medical practitioners. One noted European doctor wrote that western medicine would take the gifts from the honey bee more serious were they simply not so tasty! Another famed doctor who relied upon the healing powers of propolis wrote, "Pollen is for health and propolis is for life!" This noted physician was none other than Hypocrites, author of the Hipocratic Oath and father to modern medicine! None of the information contained in this paper has been verified by the FDA nor is it intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
