REGARDING           RE>processing propolis
 
H. Sweet wrote:
>I have heard that BEEHIVE BOTANICALS  will buy your dirty
propolis, process it and give you 6 bucks per pound. There is
even a propolis trap ( kind of like a plastic q. excluder ) that you
put under the top board. The bees pack it with propolis, you take
it out and put it in your freezer until hard, then twist it a little to
break off the propolis.<
 
I don't know if Beehive Botanicals will actually buy "dirty" propolis, but
they do advertise that they'll buy hive scrapings.  However, I'm sure that the
best prices would be paid for clean propolis, and I would like to add a word
of support to the use of propolis "traps".  These can be bought at many
American bee supply houses (Betterbee, Inc., for one), and they work great.
However, if left in place for the summer, they often sag onto the top bars of
the highest super and in a good honey flow get burr comb attached to them.  So
in some cases there is a bit of beeswax with the propolis.  But the propolis
is first rate, and when frozen, very easy to harvest from the plastic screens
in the manner reported above.
 
Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA