Propolis is a natural substance, the extraction of which appears to be quite laborious at first glance. In nature, the propolis in the hive seals namely from nooks and crannies that serve to bacteria, fungi and viruses as the preferred gateway for ominous disease attacks. The bees use the leimähnliche substance of waxes, pollen and salivary secretions accordingly as a kind of secret weapon that keeps them well hidden annoying intruders from the neck. The beekeeper, for his part, is allowed to go in search of harvest time and scrape the raw propolis away from the entrance holes, honeycombs and the wooden cladding of his beehives with the help of a stick chisel or other solid tool.
Alternatively, many beekeepers use a trick that not only makes the harvest easier for them, but also affects the degree of purity of the valuable hive. If the bees are offered artificial cracks - for example in the form of a close-meshed grid - the hardworking plasterers get down to work immediately and paste up the supposedly dangerous weak points with their omnipotent filler. When the time comes, the beekeeper only has to remove the grid, from which the propolis can be removed relatively easily.
A good percentage of raw propolis dissolves in alcohol, and the alcohol can also be used to remove wood, pollen and other organic residues that are still attached to the raw material after harvesting. If you get your propolis en bloc directly from the beekeeper, you can also make a powder from it at home by storing the chunks in the freezer for a while. The so-called freeze-drying turns propolis into a brittle substance that can be easily pulverized in a suitable mill.
All information about propolis can be found in our Propolis Lexicon.You can find high-quality propolis products in many variations in our Propolis-Shop.
