Guest guest Posted January 1, 1970 Report Share Posted January 1, 1970 Sue Thanks for that. What you say rings a bell, cos the guy that gave it to me said he had to 'scrape' it out. Stuart Fitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 31, 2002 Report Share Posted August 31, 2002 Dear Stuart and anyone else interested in propolis. I have to admit that I have been away and therefore do not know what started this discussion on propolis (I have only seen the one email). Yes I have seen 'raw' propolis and although it did not look as 'clean' as filtered beeswax, it did not contain any dead bees. A local bee farmer gave me lots of this propolis taken from the top of the hives, where it apparently accumulates. However I don't actually know what to do with or what to use this for and any suggestions will be gladly received. She (the bee farmer) told me that anyone can easily get propolis, and usually for free, if you just approach a local bee farmer. So good luck. Hera Jónas > >Anybody ever seen 'raw' propolis? Some years ago I was approached by a >propolis producer with the aim of making tincture from it. I asked for a >few >hundred grams to experiment with. What I received was a solid block of >propolis alright but it was crammed full of dead bees and their bits. When >I >tried to find out how one removed the 'debris', I was told that you don't >bother, you just filter the tincture. Whilst I am not an animal rights >activist, I had no stomach for job any longer, the thought of all those >little bee bits swimming about in the alcohol put me right off, and the >crunch as you pressed it out. Those poor hard working little creatures, I >just couldn't do it! >So use propolis if you must, you may find tincture of wood louse far easier >to live with though. > > > _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2002 Report Share Posted September 1, 2002 Hera & Stuart I have not been in on this discussion regarding propolis, but I am a beekeeper. Only this year I began keeping bees (so I am very much an amateur), but I have quite an amount of propolis on my hives. The bees use this substance (which in the heat behaves like chewing gum, and when cool like wax) to block up any holes in the hive (apart from their entry hole) - all hives will have small holes. In doing this they can maintain a much more constant temperature, which they need to survive. Propolis is a beautiful deep orange-red colour - or it is here in West Dorset, I am sure the colour changes with the harvest. It does not however have bits of dead bee in it. Bees are very clean creatures, they will clean all debris from the hive (including their deceased family). If you have been offered propolis with bits of bee in it I - and maybe some splinters of wood or other materials in, then you are probably being offered the scrapings of propolis from where one storey of the hive sits upon the storey below it. It is here that many small gaps are filled with propolis by the bees. To inspect the hive - which you must do regularily, you must remove each storey (or 'super', as it is called) and replace it. Unfortunately, however careful you are as a beekeeper, you cannot help but squash bees occasionally between supers when you inspect the hive - there can be up to 80,000 bees in each full hive (plus the frames of honey & brood etc). I would say that what Stuart actually received (as Stuart received a 'block' of propolis) was a (melted down) mixture of mainly wax with propolis and all other matter scraped from the hive. It is common for the beekeeper to 'clean out' the hives of this 'excess' wax and propolis. The beekeeper usually scrapes all this matter into one container. To clean the block of this mixed matter, melt the block in some water, all debris will float to the top where it can be scraped off. Leave the rest to cool and the wax and propolis will sink to the bottom of the pan and harden. I do not know of a way of splitting the propolis from the wax, but both apparently have very therapeutic value. - I know that when I chew propolis (as the other local beekeepers advise regularily) my mouth is anesthetised. Su Young Dorchester Re: Propolis > > Dear Stuart and anyone else interested in propolis. > > I have to admit that I have been away and therefore do not know what started > this discussion on propolis (I have only seen the one email). > > Yes I have seen 'raw' propolis and although it did not look as 'clean' as > filtered beeswax, it did not contain any dead bees. > A local bee farmer gave me lots of this propolis taken from the top of the > hives, where it apparently accumulates. > > However I don't actually know what to do with or what to use this for and > any suggestions will be gladly received. > > She (the bee farmer) told me that anyone can easily get propolis, and > usually for free, if you just approach a local bee farmer. So good luck. > > Hera Jónas > > > > > >Anybody ever seen 'raw' propolis? Some years ago I was approached by a > >propolis producer with the aim of making tincture from it. I asked for a > >few > >hundred grams to experiment with. What I received was a solid block of > >propolis alright but it was crammed full of dead bees and their bits. When > >I > >tried to find out how one removed the 'debris', I was told that you don't > >bother, you just filter the tincture. Whilst I am not an animal rights > >activist, I had no stomach for job any longer, the thought of all those > >little bee bits swimming about in the alcohol put me right off, and the > >crunch as you pressed it out. Those poor hard working little creatures, I > >just couldn't do it! > >So use propolis if you must, you may find tincture of wood louse far easier > >to live with though. > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > > > List Owner > > > > Graham White, MNIMH > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2002 Report Share Posted September 1, 2002 Dear Graham due to hard disc failure, I have lost all the old messages from the list, which I was finding a very useful resource. Is there an archive of them somewhere I could access? And if so can you explain procedure to me (in v simple terms to match my v simple understanding re IT workings). I am also having difficulty finding the NIMH members page. I still have the password etc, just can't find where to log in. (All my addresses went too.) Yours hopefully Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2002 Report Share Posted September 1, 2002 " Young " wrote: > To clean the block of this mixed matter, melt > the block in some water, all debris will float to the top where it can be > scraped off. Leave the rest to cool and the wax and propolis will sink to > the bottom of the pan and harden. I've found that beeswax floats, no matter what the water temperature. And, if any of you want to clean raw beeswax one day, straight from the honey centrifuge: whole bees float, but single legs and wings sink, in your cooling " cleaned " wax ... and also in your salve. Cheesecloth is a very good idea. Cheers Henriette -- Henriette Kress Helsinki, Finland Over 30 MB herbal .html files (FAQs, classic texts, articles, links), plus pictures, zipped archives, the works, at: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2002 Report Share Posted September 2, 2002 Sally members page is http://newsite.nimh.org.uk/members/ i think. chris Caton, MNIMH chris@... Re: Propolis > Dear Graham > due to hard disc failure, I have lost all the old messages from the list, > which I was finding a very useful resource. Is there an archive of them > somewhere I could access? And if so can you explain procedure to me (in v > simple terms to match my v simple understanding re IT workings). > > I am also having difficulty finding the NIMH members page. I still have the > password etc, just can't find where to log in. (All my addresses went too.) > > Yours hopefully > Sally > > > > > > > > List Owner > > > > Graham White, MNIMH > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 5, 2002 Report Share Posted September 5, 2002 In a message dated Tue, 3 Sep 2002 10:08:51 +0100, charlotte.stedman2@... writes: > Also, does anyone use propolis internally? If so, in what > sort of doses? > > > > Charlotte Stedman > > There is a book in the Natures Remedies series by Fearnley entitled Bee Propolis published by Souvenir Press ISBN 0 285 63522 0. This book covers all uses of propolis and its manufacture in the hive, collection and tincture making etc. would also be happy to answer any questions by email. He can be contacted at FearnleyUK@.... Whitton Senior Scientist Herbal Apothecary Ltd High Street Syston Leicester LE7 1GQ Tel (0116)260 2690 Fax (0116) 2602757 Direct Line (0116)260 2963 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 5, 2002 Report Share Posted September 5, 2002 > > Dear Sara, > > What do you use to dispense the propolis as a spray and by how much do you > dilute the tincture? Hi Charlotte, Sorry to take so long to get back to you. You can get little screw-top spray bottles quite easily from all sorts of places. The tictrue doesn't have to be diluted too much, but I'd say 1 pt to 4 or 5 cooled, boiled water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 5, 2002 Report Share Posted September 5, 2002 Just as a matter of interest, is propolis (and honey) considered to be herbal products or animal products - or ...? Would a strict vegan be able to use them? Morag Chacksfield BSc, MNIMH _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2002 Report Share Posted September 23, 2002 Dear Charlotte, that's right - 10 ml of propolis per 100 ml of mix seems to work, although Herbworx recommend 15-30 ml/week. Hope it helps PS I get my proplis sweets from a firend who goes occasionally to Bolognia. Maybe it's an import business opportunity? > from: Ms Charlotte Stedman > date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 09:09:32 > to: ukherbal-list > subject: Re: Propolis > > Dear , > > Thanks for your reply. I wonder if it would be possible to get hold of these > propolis sweets on the UK? Has anyone else heard of these? > > You wrote: >>I used herbworx tincture - although expensive it will last very > long because you do not need much. > > When you say you don't need much, how much is a small amount? e.g. 5-10 ml > per 100ml or more/less? > > Thanks > Charlotte > > > > > > > > > > > > > List Owner > > > > Graham White, MNIMH > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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