Propolis & Pollen

Pollen is present in some aspect on every flower that grows. The stamen is the pollen producing part of that flower. Honey bees collect pollen for food, and unknowingly pollinate our crops as they do so. They will siphon the nectar from the flower into their honey stomach, and then harvest the pollen, mixed with a bit of nectar and saliva and pack it on their hind legs on what we call ‘pollen baskets’. They will then carry that pollen back to the hive, and pack it bit by bit into cells of the comb, it then ferments overtime and becomes what’s known as ‘bee bread’, which is another super medicinal bi product of honey bees. In my humble opinion, this is a delicacy and should never be purposely harvested from the hive, although many commercial keepers do harvest bee bread as well as pollen through traps on the bottom of the hive. One of favorite things to see during inspections are all the different colors of pollen that is mostly based on seasons. Since all perennials and wild natives have their time and season, that is what the bees have evolved to forage on, although they do not discriminate and will get anything sweet enough and tasty enough to keep.

Propolis is just as fascinating and beneficial, this is made by chewing wax mixed with tree saps and resins and used as a glue to seal any crack, crevice, hole or gap in the hive, and boy do they do an amazing job! It’s almost collected naturally, as you do inspections, and clean the frames season to season you will likely end up with a decent size ball of propolis. You can save it as is, or make things with it, I have a small jar of tiny little lentil size balls rolled up to swallow hole, and I’ve made a propolis tincture to use medicinally. Honey bees like a tidy organized hive, they waste no time making sure cleanliness is at the top of their list, and gluing everything in place is just one way they have complete control over their hive. Bee spit used in all these products is what adds natural enzymes and helps aid in giving it medicinal qualities, there is a market for things like this, but in my personal experience, when commercial keepers do things for the money, they lose sight of what’s real, even though bees are livestock, we really appreciate the opportunity to work alongside our bees, and we do not want to take from them more than what is extra. If we happen to get bi products besides honey from our girls, then wonderful…if we don’t that’s okay too. We are grateful and thankful for all they do, and try to keep things moving along as natural as possible.