Propolis, or bee glue, is collected by beekeepers for the preparation of various medicines. With this resinous substance, insects cover the honeycomb, cover up the cracks in their home and even brick up uninvited guests. As a rule, the collected propolis has to be cleaned from wax and other impurities. Otherwise, the raw material is considered unsuitable for use in medicinal recipes, since it does not allow for accurate calculation of the required proportions and is of little value.
Necessary
- - beekeeping chisel;
- - cold water;
- - sieve;
- - paper;
- - a network with 2x2 cells;
- - freezer;
- - cut;
- - a piece of cotton cloth.
Instructions
Step 1
Collect propolis in cold or very hot weather for more convenient and efficient handling. Bee glue crumbles well at low temperatures, but in the heat it becomes like softened plasticine - it can be easily scraped off.
Step 2
Scrape off the substance with a beekeeping chisel between the frames, from the canvas, on the upper bar, in the hive folds (metal seams), cracks between the boards. Now you need to manually clean the propolis from dead insects, small pieces of wood, canvas fibers and other mechanical impurities.
Step 3
Grind the harvested propolis and place it in a container with very cold water. Stir the mixture thoroughly and leave to stand for 15 minutes. After this time, wax particles will float on the surface of the water, which must be removed with a clean fine strainer. Remove them until the water on top is completely clear. Work carefully so as not to stir up the precipitate!
Step 4
Filter the liquid with the propolis particles settled to the bottom using a clean sieve. You just have to dry the collected sediment on spread paper, after which it can be used to prepare various alcohol or water tinctures.
Step 5
You can use another way to remove wax from propolis if it seems easier to you. To do this, you need to first roll the collected product into balls or sausages and freeze them in the freezer for 24 hours.
Step 6
Chop up the frozen propolis with a blunt cabbage cut. In this case, the frozen wax will turn into dust and be separated from the total mass. After collecting the grated product in a mesh (2 x 2 mm), begin to shake it so that the wax dust scatters.
Step 7
Finally, beekeepers usually sift through the remaining propolis in the wind, placing a large piece of cotton under the net. This must be done in order to remove the remnants of light mechanical impurities from the medicinal product.