Propolis
Propolis (bee glue, balm) was first used in ancient Egypt, then in ancient Greece and Rome. The positive effects were shown in his work “On Medicinal Products” by the ancient Roman physician Dioscorides (1st century AD), and then by Avicenna (980-1037 AD) in the famous “Canon of Medical Science”.
Propolis has long been used in folk medicine in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries. For example, in the 12th-15th centuries in Georgia, preparations were prepared based on propolis for treating teeth and treating the umbilical cord in newborns. Propolis and honey were taken in medieval times for colds, acne, inflammatory processes in the joints, etc. In the people, propolis was used to treat eczema, destroy calluses and warts, heal wounds, etc. The pharmacological boom characteristic of the 20th century led to the fact that propolis was officially forgotten by medicine, it was replaced by other antimicrobial drugs. In folk medicine, propolis remained popular, but it was used as a means of treating wounds, ulcers, burns, etc. In recent years, the use of propolis has increased despite chemical drugs.
Propolis and its therapeutic effects are very intensively used in Romania. The Bucharest publishing house “Apimondia” has published several collections dedicated to propolis and its medicinal preparations. The study of this valuable medicine is taking place in laboratories. Many new valuable pharmacological effects of propolis have been discovered, and it is increasingly used in the treatment of various diseases - skin, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and other diseases.
As a rule, beekeepers extract propolis by scraping it with a beekeeping chisel from frames, hive walls, beehives, tarpaulins and bedding, as well as from other parts of the hive.
The best time to collect propolis is the active season in early spring, when buds swell and bloom, young shoots and leaves grow, and in August, when buds are laid and formed on trees and bushes for the next season.
To collect propolis, a beekeeper should keep only strong and super-strong bee colonies, since only they can maximally and actively produce this valuable bee product.
The quality of bee glue is improved if the beekeeper follows certain sanitary and hygienic rules during its collection. First of all, you need to thoroughly wash your hands with soap, clean and wash the tool, and also carefully monitor that no bee corpses, pollen, pieces of wax and various kinds of debris get into it. The extracted propolis is first cooled in a refrigerator at a temperature of +5 - 8 0С, and then ground into powder and sifted through a thick sieve. After that, the powder is kept at room temperature (+18 - 24 0С), until it loses its flowability.
In our medical practice, we use propolis as a component for the preparation of propolis water, alcohol extracts, balms, elixirs, aerosols and ointments (10-20-30-50%). Propolis is one of the components for the manufacture of “Safis-Betta F” balm.