Propolis and Bee Pollen Processing

By Micheal Thomas

The bees are truly amazing creatures. All of the bee products they produce have valuable contributions to human health. Propolis and bee pollen processing are just two of the amazing bee supplements that are very important for human consumption.

What is bee propolis?

Propolis is the sticky resin which seeps from the buds of certain trees. The bees gather this and use it to line the interior of brood cells in preparation for the hive Queen's laying of eggs. The bee propolis has rich antiseptic, antibiotic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. It is frequently used as a cancer treatment, curing of urinary tract infections, open wounds, sinus congestion, and in many other diseases caused by fungi, bacterias, or viruses.

Bee pollen, on the other hand, contains all the essential nutrients needed by our body, ranging from the essential vitamins to minerals to the complete amino acids to proteins to enzymes and coenzymes and so much more. It also has unique antibiotic properties for viral and bacterial disease prevention, antihistamine properties for allergy treatments, and antioxidant properties to combat and prevent any development of life-threatening diseases.

The pollen collection all starts when a honeybee leaves the hive in search for nectar and pollen for the colony's food. Pollens are the male reproductive units of flowering plants which bees gather together with the flowers' nectars for the colony's food. As the honeybees fly from flower to flower, their hairy bodies pick up various pollen grains. Flowers benefit a lot from this pollen collecting process of bees because they are able to reproduce successfully.

The attached pollens on the bees' bodies are carefully brushed off by the bee's legs when they are in flight. Honeybees add something special to these pollen grains that make them sticky enough to be hammered into the "pollen baskets" of the bees' hind legs, these pollens are now the ones we know as pollens from the bee. Honeybees carry these pollens back to the hive. Beekeepers attach pollen catching devices on the entrance of each hive allowing some pollen to drop off from the bees' legs.

This particular pollen has everything man needs for survival and longevity. The nutrients are vital factors in keeping one's body youthful by maintaining the different systems' proper functionality, increasing one's energy, restoring balance in metabolism, preventing life threatening diseases as well as aiding cell regeneration, and total body nourishment and so much more.

Increasing your life span considerably is now made possible by high grade bee products which are manufactured by freeze drying in order to maintain the intact potency of the pollen.

The cleanest and purest propolis and pollen processing only happens in the country of New Zealand where there is no visible industries, dense human population, nor the use of commercially sprayed insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers.

The pollution and population can cause harmful effects on the propolis and bee processing because the heavy metals, chemicals, toxins, and other impurities brought by these elements affect the way bees manufacture and process their bee products. The bee supplements which are collected and manufactured in countries other than New Zealand cannot provide human beings with their expected health benefits.

Creating Health and Wealth from the Hives

Summary about Propolis and Honey by Muraina Muideen

The bee is known for its sting, but this creature can also produce substances that have been used by man for both medicinal purposes as well as a source of economic gain. It also serves as delicious foods for many. Bees produce honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and honey comb. The Asians have used propolis and honey to cure injuries and tumors. The Greeks used it to cure wounds and abscesses.
The religious books as well as writings from ancient Persia, the Hebrews, the Bible and the Qur'an all mention propolis and honey.
The potential of bee keeping is great and the technology should be disseminated. Such strong potentials for this agricultural activity are essentially due to the various uses of the products of beekeeping which includes uses of honey and other bee hives products in various ways.
Honey is used as a sugar substitute in cooking, cereals, drinks and beverages. It is a preferable sweetener especially for diabetics’ patients. it is used as a sweetening base for pharmaceutical products. it is used on its own as medicine for various ailments, burns and wound dressing and general stomach problems. It also has several uses in the cosmetics industry.
It is used in the adhesives, textiles and cosmetics industries. It is sometimes used in dental work as temporary tooth filler. It is used as a raw material in making chewing gum.
Lastly, integration of beekeeping practice into the schedule of farmers will be a very rewarding endeavor. Maintenance of an apiary by a farmer can give up to 30% yield increases from improved crop pollination by the bees, thus guaranteeing an overall increased income at no further production input cost.
And if you like it, be a beekeeper because the human being survival depends on them. The bees have an essential role in pollination, the multiplication of the floral species and the development of the cultivation. Without pollen there is no fruit, without bees there is no pollination.

Bee Propolis: Synergisitc Health Care for the 21st Centruy

Executive summary about Bee Propolis by James Fearnley

For well over a century modern science has progressed at a startling rate. With this increase in knowledge has come medicinal and healthcare benefits that have seen ages peak and diseases eradicated. These medical advances were based around the paradigm of the “magic bullet”, isolating the active ingredient and using it to alter the chemistry of a single molecule/protein to elicit a change of state in the patient. Success however has turned to obsession as cracks appear in the armoury of disease fighting drugs at our disposal. MRSA is rifling through our hospitals as antibiotics become ineffective and severe side effects of modern drugs are becoming common place now years after their introduction. A direct consequence of a one dimensional strategy, it is maybe the time to acknowledge the synergistic health benefits of natural medicine.

Propolis is a unique natural medicine because of its breadth of action. It has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and immunomodulatory effects, it could help treat asthma, allergies, arthritis and joint disorders, eczema and dermatitis, ME, viral infections including HIV and even cancer. This medicine could help treat an illness or keep you fit and healthy.

Propolis: Defender of the City

Propolis is a mainly resinous substance that bees collect from trees and plants. Being made up of waxes, resins, fatty acids and even amino acids. Aristotle reputedly coined the name Propolis meaning “defender of the city”. This is exactly what Propolis is for the hive, it acts as a bee population’s external immune system keeping the hive sterile and free of microbial invaders

Evidence Based Medicine

In the following paragraphs I will describe to you the pharmacological properties of Propolis. All the properties and actions of Propolis have been witnessed and detailed in scientific studies which have subsequently been published in journals. The bulk of these scientific studies have been performed in vitro (i.e. in a test tube) or in vivo (i.e. in a host animal for example rats), a much smaller proportion of these studies are clinical trials tested on humans.

Propolis: A natural antibiotic

Propolis is probably best known for its antibiotic properties. Even as early as 1960 French1 research demonstrated the bacteriostatic action on Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris and Bacillus alvei. A 1997 study by Calder et al. at the University of Oxford concurred with these results and found that the cinnaminic acids and flavanoids present in Propolis in particular show bacteriocidal action. This action believed to be as a consequence of Propolis uncoupling the bacterial energy respiratory chain. Interestingly this action may be involved in a synergistic action with antibiotics when used together, boosting the effectiveness of the drugs.

Anti-Viral and immuno-stimulatory

Viruses present a unique dilemma in the quest for good health, they are not affected by antibiotics and mutate so frequently that vaccines are hard to produce. They also cause illness by hijacking cells and using the cells machinery to replicate. Modern drugs aim to slow or stop the virus from the replicating and subsequently because they are attacking host cell machinery they have certain side effects. Viruses perhaps pose the greatest threat to humans’ health, we are currently in the middle of a HIV pandemic with “39.4 million” people infected world wide. With a Flu pandemic overdue and certainly on its way and predictions of world wide casualties and chaos, a solution is needed.

The bioflavanoids in propolis have a unique approach to combating Viruses, instead of trying to combat them once they have infected a cell, they lock the virus in its protein coat. This means that the dangerous machinery and DNA/RNA of the virus is nullified and the infection stopped.
Propolis has been shown to be more effective than the pharmaceutical anti-viral acyclovir in treating genital Herpes in a clinical trial conducted in the Ukraine4 and there is growing evidence that Propolis could help treat people with HIV5.

Propolis also works hard as an immunomodulator which is of interest for all of us. It does this by altering the way cytokine production and release is managed. Cytokines are the chemical messengers that allow immune system cells to communicate. By altering the cytokine system, it primes the immune system to be ready to react to antigens quickly and effectively.

As well as this, bioflavanoids within Propolis stimulate the production of interferon which can help people recover from ME, stimulating their immune system.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergen

A survey of Propolis consumers showed that arthritis was the health problem that Propolis was used to treat the most. This is because of the potent anti-inflammatory properties of the propolis constituents in particular CAPE (Caffeic acid Phenyl ester), CAPE has been shown to suppress T cell activation. A paper by Marquez et al in 20046 evaluated this to mean that since T-cells play a key role in the onset of several inflammatory diseases, CAPE is important because the this phenolic compound is a potent inhibitor of early and late events in T-cell receptor-mediated T-cell activation. Results like this have led other researchers to propose that CAPE is a worthwhile agent for reducing the severity of conditions associated with inflammation.

Many of the experiments performed on CAPE were done so in vitro, however the anti-inflammatory properties of Propolis have been documented in rats when treating rat adjuvant arthritis. A paper by Park et al in 19997 concluding that the ethanolic extract of propolis had profound anti-inflammatory effects on both chronic and acute arthritic inflammations. These anti-inflammation properties extend to other illness and disorders such as asthma and allergies reducing both smooth muscle airway contraction8 and allergic responses. Any disorder or illness related to inflammation could be helped by Propolis.

Anti-tumour/cancer

Propolis and CAPE have been shown to reduce the size of tumours and to selectively destroy and to curb the proliferation of malignant cells of many different types of cancer. As recently as June 10th 2005 Cancer researchers have been given a grant of a million dollars to investigate the therapeutic value of Propolis for cancer. Costas Koumenis the lead investigator for the study was quoted as saying, “a very interesting property of these compounds is that they have been shown to cause cell death in tumor cells but not in normal cells." This study along with other current studies promises to propel Propolis into the limelight in the field of cancer treatment.

Current Propolis Research in the UK

BVR (BeeVital Research) recently won a major government Research and Development Award, part of a £250,000 research programme looking at the chemical, biological and clinical properties of propolis.

These studies will focus on the:

1. Documenting the regional variances in chemical and biological properties, by HPLS, GC-MS and NMR. (Taking place at Univeristy of Strathclyde)

2. Futher investigating the role of Propolis in the Hive (University of Gloucester)

3. Dental trials – looking at effectiveness of Propolis for Mouth Ulcers, Pericorinitis, Gingivitis and Sensitive Teeth. (Manchester University Dental school)

4. HIV/AIDS trials – looking at the effectiveness of Propolis with anti-virals in Zambia and Tanzania

5. The effects of standardised propolis on mood, stress, fatigue and cognition at the Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at University of Newcastle.

6. To evaluate the use of local and non – local propolis for wound healing and the treatment of skin and other dermatological problems. ( The Regional Teaching Hospital for University of Dar es Salaam)

How to use/find propolis products?

A large range of propolis products are available on the market ranging from tablets, capsules, tinctures and liquids to specialist products for skin care – soap, lip balm, creams and oral health care – toothpaste, mouthwash , lozenges and tooth and gum liquid.
Traditionally these have been available through health food stores but are increasingly available in independent pharmacies.

Choosing the best products is not always easy. Current regulations means manufacturers cannot make any kind of medical claim for products that have not been licensed as medicines despite the fact that there is a sound evidence basis for such claims. Part of the reason for this is that no single body is responsible for ensuring that product offered for sale actually are what they say they are.

For this reason the BVR (BeeVital Research) programme is targeted at developing full medicines licenses for some key products. In the meantime BVR have formulated a number of products for the health food market based on their research. Consumers, when purchasing products should look for those products produced by companies who can back up their products by good manufacturing practice (pharmaceutical standard manufacturing ) and research.
References:

(1)Lavie, P. (1960). Annals Abeille, 3: 103-201

(2)Anti-Bacterial properties of propolis. Grange, J. M., Davey, R. W. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 83: 160-1 (1990)

(3)Anti-microbial action of propolis and some of its components: The effect on growth membrane potential and motility of bacteria. Mirzoeva, O. K., Grishanin, r. n., Calder, p. c. microbial – res, 152: 239-246 (1997)

(4)A comparative multi-centre study of the efficacy of propolis, acyclovir and placebo in the treatment of genital herpes (HSV). Vynograd, N.; Vynograd, I.; Sosnowski, Z. Institute of Epidemiology, Lvov State Medical University, Lvov, Ukraine. Phytomedicine (2000), 7(1), 1-6. CODEN: PYTOEY ISSN: 0944-7113.

(5)Current lead natural products for the chemotherapy of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. De Clercq, Erik. Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Louvain, Belg. Medicinal Research Reviews (2000), 20(5), 323-349. CODEN: MRREDD ISSN: 0198-6325

(6)Caffeic acid phenethyl ester inhibits T-cell activation by Btargeting both nuclear factor of activated T-cells and NF- transcription factors. Marquez, Nieves; Sancho, Rocio; Macho, Antonio; Calzado, Marco A.; Fiebich, Bernd L.; Munoz, Eduardo. Departamento de Biologia Celular, Fisiologia e Inmunologia, Universidad de Cordoba, Facultad de Medicina, Cordoba, Spain. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2004), 308(3), 993-1001. CODEN: JPETAB ISSN: 0022-3565.

(7)Suppressive effects of propolis in rat adjuvant arthritis. Park, Eun-Hee; Kahng, Ja-Hoon. College of Pharmacy, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, S. Korea. Archives of Pharmacal Research (1999), 22(6), 554-558. CODEN: APHRDQ ISSN: 0253-6269.

(8)Bulgarian propolis induces analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in mice and inhibits in vitro contraction of airway smooth muscle. Paulino, Niraldo; Dantas, Andreia Pires; Bankova, Vassya; Longhi, Daniela Taggliari; Scremin, Amarilis; Lisboa de Castro, Solange; Calixto, Joao Batista. Grupo de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Biofarmacos (BIOFAR), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Tubarao, Brazil. Journal of Pharmacological Sciences (Tokyo, Japan) (2003), 93(3), 307-313.

Propolis - The Other Healthy Gift From Bees

Best Summary about Propolis by R Lewis

Bees really are remarkable creatures. Apart from providing a vital role in much of our food supply through their help with pollination, they also provide us with wonderful natural, healthy bee products.

When you think of bees, most people immediately think of honey.

Honey has been making a come back in recent times for its naturally healthy qualities. Supported by a growing amount of research, this has been particularly led by the unique healing properties, supported by proper research, found in some batches of New Zealand's manuka honey.

There is another bee product, that the bees use themselves, which makes a great natural remedy - propolis.

Propolis is a resin type substance, produced mainly from bees collecting tree sap, mixed with some pollen. It has antibiotic properties due to its content of biologically active flavonoids.

So like many natural products, not all propolis is the same. What the bees feed on in each area can affect the potency of the propolis the produce.

According to Wikipedia (as at 17/12/07) "Natural medicine practitioners often utilize propolis for the relief of various conditions, including inflammations, viral diseases, ulcers, superficial burns or scalds". Its natural anti-fungal properties are also useful for fighting fungal infections, including athletes foot.

It is an old beekeepers trick to use a piece of propolis in the mouth as a remedy for a sore throat. This is now one of the common uses propolis products are aimed at, the winter ills such as sore throats, coughs and colds. You can of course now get a rather more pleasant tasting honey and propolis lozenge to help with your sore throat.

Some people who are sensitive to bee products do need to take care, as it may cause allergic reactions in them.

Like many natural remedies, much of the evidence supporting it is still anecdotal. But with a growing number of research studies underway around the world, scientists are gaining a better understanding of propolis.

One of the difficulties in getting good scientific evidence for a natural remedy such as porpolis is again the fact they naturally vary in composition and potency. Not being produced to a set standard in a laboratory creates obstacles to getting consistent results.

To make a step towards alleviating this, and having a standard for measuring potency, New Zealand's leading health bee products company Comvita has come up with a test and standard for their New Zealand propolis tinctures and extracts. Comvita's 'PFL' standard is a measure of Propolis Flavonoid Levels. They use an independent laboratory to certify each batch of propolis. This gives you information on the potency of their propolis products.