To harvest propolis, the beekeeper places a flexible plastic screen with cracks on top of the frames in the hive, underneath the hive cover. The fastidious bees will quickly work to seal all of the cracks with propolis. This plastic screen can be easily removed by the beekeeper and placed temporarily in the refrigerator or freezer – the propolis, which is soft and sticky in the warm hive, will quickly become brittle in the cold. Flexing the screen easily cracks the brittle resin off of the screen where it can be collected.

How has propolis been used by people – past and present?

Propolis has been used for health and healing since ancient times – at least since the time of Aristotle (384 – 322 BC), who is actually said to have coined the word ‘propolis’ himself! Taking advantage of its antiseptic qualities, Ancient Egyptians used propolis to embalm cadavers. In ancient Greece, Aristotle (384 – 322 BC), the physician Pedanius Dioscorides (40 – 90 AD) and Galen (129 – 217 AD) prominent Greek physician).

In ancient Rome, the naturalist and author Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 AD) used propolis extensively. In his famous Natural History, he wrote that “propolis is produced from the sweet gum of the vine or the poplar, and is of a denser consistency, the juices of flowers being added to it. Still, however, it cannot be properly termed wax, but rather the foundation of the honey-combs; by means of it all inlets are stopped up, which might, otherwise, serve for the admission of cold or other injurious influences.”(1) Pliny also wrote that propolis “has the property of extracting stings and all foreign bodies from the flesh, dispersing tumours, ripening indurations, allaying pains of the sinews, and cicatrizing ulcers of the most obstinate nature.”(2)

The ancient Jews also considered ‘tzori’ (the Hebrew word for propolis) to be medicine, and tzori is mentioned throughout the Old Testament.(3)

In more recent times there has been a significant amount of research on the biological activity of propolis, and many of the healing properties that so many civilizations have touted in propolis throughout the ages have been confirmed by modern day science. Research has demonstrated its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory properties, its ability to protect the liver, to increase the body’s natural resistance to viruses and infections, to heal problems of the mouth and gums, and to treat peptic ulcers (among other attributes). At least 180 different compounds have been identified so far.

Today, propolis is used as a popular remedy. Current sales of propolis in the United States are estimated at 40,000 lb/yr. Because of its long and varied list of touted benefits, the range of uses is long and varied in home remedies and body care products. It is available in capsules, as an extract in alcohol or glycerin, as a mouthwash, and can be found in many creams and cosmetics.