Hi all !    Again about propolis !
 
1/ to collect propolis :
 
the best material is a stainless steel thin wire netting 4x4 mm.  Put
this between the top of the frames and the cover.  It's better to keep
a bee space between the net and the frames top.  Don't insulate the
cover : colder the cover, lesser the beeswax into the propolis.
 
When the holes of the grid are full of propolis, roll them and put it
in a glass cylinder (hydrometer) containing the solvent (pure ethanol
for the medical use).
 
The plastic collector describes by Dave ...  (expensive)
 
> The propolis collecter I once saw was like a queen exluder with much
> smaller mesh (I think it was just window screen).  This device was
> placed over the top super of a full hive.  The bees filled the mesh
> with propolis which was harvested by placing the collecter in the
> deep- freeze.  When frozen, the propolis was easily cracked off the
> mesh.
 
  ... they say *easily* but you must go very rapidly .  The amount of
propolis is less than with the wire net.
 
 
2/ preparations with propolis :
 
last year I was searching a mouth water with propolis, to dissolve it
in water : I found it in New Zealand (20 000 km from Belgium) :
<Propolis tooth paste> and <Oralfresh mouth wash with propolis> this
very (very) effective against the gingivitis in use with the "water pik
system" (COMVITA Lab. ltd, Old coatch road, Te Puke, Day of Plenty,
NZ)
 
 
Jean-Marie                              [log in to unmask]