Propolis

Propolis is wax-like, having nice strong scent and somewhat bitter taste biologically active product. Its colour is from yellowish to dark brown, sometimes grey or greenish. The older propolis is the darker are its colours. Its properties of a traditional medicine are retained for 10 years. Bees collect it from trees (poplars, birches and others) sticky buds and shoots and use it to seal the hive cracks, to close honey in comb cells , to embalm decaying foreign bodies, which cannot be carried out of the hive, as propolis is impervious to air and moisture. Because of these preserving properties it protects bee products (for example, royal jelly) against decay and inhibits sprouting of gathered in the hive pollen. In addition, bees use propolis to disinfect comb cells and so protect themselves against diseases also it makes the hive aromatic.

One bee colony brings one gram of propolis per day, up to 150-200 g annually. For one specialized in bee propolis gathering it is possible to gather more. Lithuanian beekeepers collect comparatively small quantities of propolis although market for its realization is good – particularly abroad.   However, in our country propolis is not widely used in drug industry and in medical praxis as well. Propolis is solid at room temperature, at 30 to 40° C it becomes sticky and plastic, at temperatures of 80 to 104 ° C it melts.   It is well soluble in alcohols and ether, while partially solvable in fats of plant and animal origin it is almost insoluble in water. Propolis is soluble in heated solvents. Action range of propolis is wide enough: antimicrobial (kills up to 100 types of microbes), antivirus, fungicidal, anti-inflammatory, local anaesthetic, antioxidant and bio stimulating.