Bee Propolis - the basics. Bee Propolis - what's in it?

Scientific studies done on propolis have found that propolis consists of more than 150 chemical components.

To make simple, we can think of propolis as bees own medicine.

It is a mixture of various amounts of resins collected by the honeybees from plants - particularly from flowers, leaf buds and the bark of trees.

However, because propolis comes from a variety of plants and depends on the availability of the plants sap and the type of bees, no two propolis is alike. They would be different in term of color, odor and composition. Some researches reported as much as 300 components in their sample propolis.

Carried on their back legs, bees use propolis as some sort of natural cement to strengthen and seal cracks in their hives.

The question is, why do the bees use propolis when there are all sorts of natural glue available in nature? This is where it gets interesting.

The Need for Protection.

However in general it is safe to say that the main component of propolis are resins. The flavonoids and phenolic acids rich resins makes around 40 % to 50 % of propolis.

Just imagine living in a super crowded apartment, sharing it with other 50,000 living beings. The apartment is so small, it's hard for you even to get in or out of your home. It's like making a crowded Tokyo subway your home.

Chemically, propolis is exceedingly complex. Flavonoids are abundant in propolis. Apart from that you will also find kaempferol, apigenin, pinocembrin, galangin, luteolin, pinostrobin and quercitin, all of which are anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, antioxidant and/or antimutagenic.

If you're living in such a tight space, you know that you need a strong structure to hold the busy units, but more importantly you also need a way to keep the whole apartment clean and free of bacteria. Just one "unclean" occupant can bring massive disease outbreak in the whole kingdom.

This is what it feels like living in a bee hive. These bees must find a way to avoid bacterial and viral infection from spreading in their congested home. Without some kind of antibiotics protection, the whole colony could be dead.

Propolis is also rich in the caffeic acid phenethyl ester. This is a substance that was shown to inhibited cancer growth and reduced inflammation studies done to animals.

Propolis as God sent Protection.

Luckily for these bees, nature provides them with a solution. What they do is collect the substance that trees use to protect itself from infection and use it in their homes.

Bee propolis also contains organic acids and their derivatives as well as terpenoids. These constituents contribute antibiotic, anti fungal and antiviral effects.

Certain trees like poplar, willow, birch and horse chestnut produce a special antibiotic sap to protect it from infection. Bees gather these saps, took it back to their hives and coat their hives the with it, in much the same way we use to paint and caulk our home.

There is an interesting difference between propolis's antibacterial property compared to an antibiotics.

It will seal, line and strengthen the hives. The best thing is that when they brush against these brownish substance, the honey bees become immunized.

Antibiotics works by killing bacteria in our body, That includes those "friendly" ones needed by the body. Among the friendly bacteria killed by antibiotics are bacteria responsible in helping the body produce vitamins like B and K. The more antibiotics you use, the more friendly bacteria will you kill.

That special substance is what we now call propolis, a term coined by the Greek to mean "Defender of the City".

Propolis as Sterilizing Agent.

Scientist are also surprised at the fact that propolis is also used to coat dead intruders found in beehives.

At the end of the day, you might be deficient in those vitamins, not mentioning other vast side effects you will get from prolong use of antibiotics.

If rodents like rats entered the home of these bees, it will be stung to death and coated with propolis. The reason is simple. Having no abilities to get the dead carcass away from the hive, bees will simply sterilized the dead bodies to avoid an epidemic in the congested space.

On the other hand, propolis raise the body's natural resistance by stimulating one's own immune system. It will also add certain vitamin like B1, B, C, E and essential minerals including iron, aluminum, manganese and silicon to the body.

Due to it's anti microbial and antiviral properties, propolis is the safest and most effective way to inhibit the growth of unwanted microbes.