Propolis

Definition

Bees gather resin from buds and wounds on trees and mix it with wax and enzymes. It seals draughts, smooths surfaces, reduces the microbial load inside the nest and is used to entomb intruders too large to remove. Its composition varies completely with the local flora, which is why 'propolis' is a category rather than a substance.

Where the word gets used loosely

Sold widely as a supplement with a range of health claims. The compositional variability alone makes general efficacy claims difficult to support, since no two batches are the same material.

Honey records that discuss this

• Rockrose honeyBalsamic and resinous with a warm amber sweetness underneath — it smells of incense and hot scrubland, and tastes considerably less sweet than its colour suggests.

Plant records that discuss this

• RockroseAn outstanding pollen source and a good nectar one, and a plant that also supplies resin for propolis — an unusual triple contribution.

Bee records that discuss this

• Caucasian honey beeThe longest-tongued honey bee subspecies, and the one that can work red clover where others cannot. Caucasians come from the high valleys of Georgia and the surrounding mountains, and they carry two distinctive traits: a tongue reaching over 7 mm, and an enthusiasm for propolis that makes their hives genuinely difficult to open.

Guide records that discuss this

• The other hive products: beeswax, propolis, royal jelly and bee pollenFour substances a colony makes or collects besides honey, each with a real biological function and a marketing story that runs well ahead of it. Here is what each one actually is.
• Propolis: the hive's immune systemPlant resin collected, chewed and plastered through the nest. Its function in the colony is well understood; the health claims made for it in a jar are a separate matter and mostly outrun the evidence.

Question records that discuss this

• Is honey vegan?No. Honey is an animal product, the mainstream definitions of veganism exclude it, and virtually every vegan certification scheme rejects it along with beeswax, propolis and royal jelly. The ethical argument underneath that labelling answer is genuinely contested, including among vegans, but the labelling answer itself is not in dispute.