>5.Whilst I do not doubt the credentials of the authors of the report
>referred to, I often ask myself about the agenda of the people preparing
>such documents in a wide variety of contexts. 

And this one?

> Besides the honey and pollen which are gathered by bees, they collect a resinous 
substance, that is very tenacious, semitransparent, and which gives out a balsamic odour, 
somewhat resembling that of storax. In the mass, it is of a reddish brown colour; when 
broken, its colour approaches that of wax. Dissolved in spirit of wine or oil of turpentine, it 
imparts, as varnish, a golden colour to silver, tin, and other white polished metals. Being 
supposed to possess medicinal virtue, it was formerly kept in the shop of the apothecary. 

> According to Vauquelin, propolis consists of one part of wax and four of pure resin ; in 
which respect, and in its yielding the same acid, (the benzoic,) it resembles balsam Peru. It 
also contains' some aromatic principles. With propolis, bees attach the combs to the roof 
and sides of their dwelling, stop crevices, fasten the hives or boxes to the floors and roof, 
strengthen the weak places of their domicile, and varnish the cell-work of their combs.  
from "The Honey Bee" by Edward Bevan, 1848

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