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Collecting propolis
Just wondering if anyone bothers to collect it. I have a colony that propolises everything. I wear latex/nitrile gloves generally, but I absolutely need them for this colony, they cover everything in the stuff.
I've generally tried to keep things simple in my beekeeping, but I'm starting to think that with this hive it might actually be worth trying to collect the stuff. Not that I actually have a freezer big enough to stick a sheet of the stuff into.
What do people think, worth the effort?
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I was pondering the same thing with daughter as one colony is really into propolising. We do have the freezer space though it might end up smelling slightly of mackerel!
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I wouldn't bet on it. I've been cooking this evening including fish and judicious use of lemons and my hands still smell of bees/propolis
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I love the smell of it!
It makes a great schnapps I add it to a bottle of williams schnapps (40%) or really good vodka, shake well every day for 3-6 months and you have something that tastes interesting but will sort out a sore throat in a jiffy.
Also dissolved in spiritus and painted on the inside of a new wooden hive makes the bees feel much more at home (so I am told- seems to work too), some people leave these painted empty hives open as swarm baits - though that is illegal here in Germany.
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Senior Member
I've got a lump of it on the windowcill in the garage - not sure what to do with it. A couple of my hives produce loads of it too. You can see it in the pollen baskets as they fly in.
Gloves get goopy and need changing afterwards - especially if the next task is clipping a queen.
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Senior Member
On the gloves subject lots of people can't get on with latex gloves or the powder and end up using the blue nitrile type which are pretty hopeless.
www.justgloves.co.uk have lots of different types including synthetics
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