Propolis posts moved to new thread

[ericbeaumont]

Propolis is a nuisance to the beekeeper

Not this one: I sell it.

 

[pargyle]

Not this one: I sell it.

I dissolve it in meths and use it as propolis varnish ... I've often thought of harvesting it .. do you use a propolise screen ? Valuable commodity - although there are some cheap imported packs around.

 

[ericbeaumont]

do you use a propolise screen?

I use them but haven't yet reaped the expected harvest.

Had better results from not-quite-tight Manleys, which produce a lot. I remove it before uncapping, which keeps the propolis clean; any sticky has to be washed and dried and I'd rather not do that.

Thorough checks necessary before packing; any that looks like it contains foreign matter is rejected. Freeze for a couple of hours, wrap loosely in baking parchment and smash it roughly in a pestle and mortar.

Sold a lot this winter (£4/10g, £10/25g) but the jars and ali lids were 91p each from Ampulla so I'll have to look further. One customer spent £20 and said it was to treat her daughter's IBS; another wants to spend £40.

Customers with roots outside the UK are wise to propolis, but even the Brits are now buying out of curiosity and a desire for a natural remedy.

 

[pargyle]

I use them but haven't yet reaped the expected harvest.

Had better results from not-quite-tight Manleys, which produce a lot. I remove it before uncapping, which keeps the propolis clean; any sticky has to be washed and dried and I'd rather not do that.

Thorough checks necessary before packing; any that looks like it contains foreign matter is rejected. Freeze for a couple of hours, wrap loosely in baking parchment and smash it roughly in a pestle and mortar.

Sold a lot this winter (£4/10g, £10/25g) but the jars and ali lids were 91p each from Ampulla so I'll have to look further. One customer spent £20 and said it was to treat her daughter's IBS; another wants to spend £40.

Customers with roots outside the UK are wise to propolis, but even the Brits are now buying out of curiosity and a desire for a natural remedy.

I know a few people who are treating everything from Rheumatism to MS with propolis - in a variety of forms. It has been known to have medicinal and antispeptic properties for many years but you are right ... not as widely acknowledges in the UK as elsewhere. As it is another 'surplus' product produced by the bees I see no great hardship in harvesting the surplus they produce and at the prices available from discerning customers - even with the attendant packaging and palave ... there is a margin available.

Why do you think the propolis screens did not work ?

I suspect, where we now are more likely to have hives that have sealed crownboards and no top ventilation, that there is less incentive for bees to propolise the screen ... ie: no requirement for them to seal the top of the hive.

I see that some international harvesters of propolis have roofs that have ventilation that can be closed or opened as required and perhaps this would be an option in late summer ... perhaps after the main honey harvest ? Put a screen on then and allow some limited top ventilation - harvest the resultant propolis and then close them up properly as autumn arrives ?

Clearly, you would not want to affect your honey crop by forcing them to propolise or to create less than ideal conditions in the hive for their other activities by adding ventilation at inappropriate times or levels. Perhaps that late summer window is the time to try and see what can be achieved in a weather window when the climate is still warm enough but the bees are in a mood to start and get ready for winter ?

Not having harvested propolis - except from frame scrapings - I have no real experience of harvesting or, indeed, selling propolis ~ although it does look as though there could be a growing market that hobbyists could tap into as it grows in the UK ? An add on to honey and wax products.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Put a screen on then and allow some limited top ventilation

More or less what I did. The screens are sized for Lang and must be trimmed. I cut to sit on the box rim to provide an inefficient seal, but even on propolising colonies they didn't seem too keen, and the screens went on in early summer. This time I'll re-cut to sit inside box rims and see if that works.

Another option: leave out the Abelo box plugs and collect the wall of propolis that appears.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sorry Amanda ( post below) just moved a few posts from another thread at @pargyle request.
Some useful info getting lost between runners.

 

[amandaj57]

I'll see your .. and raise you ??