Honey Show and propolis

Wax rose and propolis tincture

I went to the National Honey Show yesterday and really enjoyed it. I didn’t manange to get to all the things I wanted because I overslept, but I still found it very worthwhile. I went to a workshop on making wax flowers…see my effort. Now to be honest with you I am busy enough as it is, I hardly have time to make wax flowers! Still I enjoyed it, I like trying my hand at something different. I wanted to go to a lecture on propolis but it was so packed that it was spilling out into the corridoor. C’est la vie.  I have managed to extract some propolis and have started taking it, but need to get a lot more before I stand any chance of being able to take it regularly.

One of the most interesting books I have read recently is on propolis. It called, unsurpisingly ‘Bee Propolis Natural Healing from the Hive’ by James Fearnley. I have become interested in propolis as a succesor to antibiotics. If we dont stop overprescribing them we are heading for a disaster. I have included instructions on how to prepare propolis in alcohol. I will put up other preparations later. According to Fearnley it can be used as a tincture or as an internal remedy. Take a few drops a day to boost your immune system. Use externally for cuts, grazes etc( I am not sure the alcohol wouldnt sting, I havent tried it yet)

I also bought a book on making Mead. I did try some at a stall and liked it. I need more honey though if I am going to make Mead as well as sell some to pay the costs of beekeeping.

Propolis tincture recipe.

Remove any obvious contaminants for the propolis, such as wood, bees etc.

Cut into small pieces and put in a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. (I used a propolis screen which I put into the freezer for a few hours to make it brittle, it was much easier to remove)

Pour in commercial drinking grade alcohol, 70% proof produces the best results but ordinary spirits such as Vodka or Gin are perfectly acceptable.

To make a 25% alcohol extract you need 250 g of proplis plus 4 times that weight/volume in alcohol- i.e. approx 1 litre. I found that I was only making a very small amount and it worked out that it was just enough alcohol to barely cover the propolis.

Store in a warm dark place for at least a week and shake daily.Optimum extraction takes between ten to fourteen days.

Filter through a fine cloth or a coffee filter.

Place in the fridge for a couple of days and then filter again with the finest filter possible.

Propolis

I read a very interesting book a couple of months ago about the health benefits of propolis. I am usually slightly skeptical about amazing health claims but these are well researched. The problem with propolis is you can’t patent it, so the drug companies are not interested….and it’s the drug companies that fund the vast majority of research in the western health care sector. I teach nursing, and medical ethics among other things at Uni, and I found the book well documented. This prompted me to look into producing my own. For those of you who don’t know what propolis is, it’s a kind of glue bees use in the hive and it has antiseptic and antifungal properties among others. In a world moving towards the post-antibiotic era I really don’t feel this sort of thing should be overlooked because of commercial interests.

Consequently I bought some propolis screens for a couple of my hives. The bees take one look at the mesh and start filling all the gaps (bees dont like gaps!) At this time of year I use Apistan to reduce the number of varroa mite and I suddenly realised that perhaps I shouldn’t be leaving the propolis screens in there while chemicals were being used. So today I removed them, you simply put them in the freezer for 24 hours and remove the propolis when it gets brittle. I will clean off the propolis and use it, I thought it quite interesting to see how much the bees had produced in a couple of months. Not a lot, but then it’s a value added crop to honey production.

After I have finished the varroa treatment I will return the screens and leave them there for the winter. I don’t think my bees need an autumn feed but if they do I will put it on afterwards.

This years honey crop

I havent done too badly this year. I only have three hives……and I lost a queen somewhere in May……so I had to breed another one, holding one of the hives up. Still I have managed to get more honey than in previous years, my beekeeping expertise has been sadly lacking. I need to get some more supers before the July rush next year, I only just had enough. The hives now have their varroa strips in place. I intend to move this winter and moving the bees fills me with dread so I guess I will have to overwinter them in the local apiary. Of all the things I have a real problem with in beekeeping its the lifting. I wish someone could come up with an invention to reduce the heavy lifting involved, I can very barely lift a full super and and I get older that is going to be an increasing problem. In my travels I have discovered this site which sells draw hives

http://www.drawhive.co.uk/hivetypes.html

They are quite pricey, and it may help a bit but still doesnt get over the perennial problem of moving hives, something I have come to dread. He sells the plans, I really wish I had good carpentry skills. Having to pay someone is never economical.

some of this years honey crop