Used as a food supplement, skin medicine and skin cream ingredient. A favorite smoothie additive.

Propolis, or ''bee glue,'' is a well known substance that beekeepers find in their hives.

Hippocrates presented the use of propolis to help heal sores. Propolis according to research has shown to be effective against a variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and molds. It has been shown to be a non-specific immunostimulant. The Greeks also made perfume called polyanthos using propolis and other herbs.

Propolis was used as a varnish for gold and even the famous Stradivarius violins. The people of Mongolia and Siberia used propolis to varnish the bottoms of their sleds. An anti-rust mixture was used by blacksmiths. Many beauty creams, hair preparations and massage oils contain propolis.

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/beautyskin/skin125.html

Lemon Balm Skin Cream
This will tighten and smooth normal and combination skin.

3 tablespoons dried lemon balm leaves
½ cup boiling water
½ ounce beeswax
2 ounces lanolin
½ cup wheat germ oil
1 teaspoon propolis powder (bee glue)

Pour boiling water over lemon balm leaves in a clean bowl. Steep for 10 minutes.

Strain through a fine sieve, collecting liquid in a clean bowl. Allow to cool; discard lemon balm leaves.

Melt beeswax and lanolin in a heatproof glass set in simmering water. Stir in wheat germ oil.

Add herbal infusion by teaspoonful and stir until well blended. Remove glass from water.

Add propolis powder to tepid cream and carefully stir it in until blended. Let cream cool completely.

Stir cream thoroughly and transfer it to clean containers with tight-fitting lids. Store up to 3 months.

Yields 10 ounces.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/propolismail.html

''We use propolis tincture at our house. We believe and have experienced evidence of its abilities in calming an upset stomach when taken with a mint tea. (recipe to follow) to lowering and removing a fever, and inducing a relaxed feeling that promoted sleep. We take it in tea if we feel we are catching a cold or flu. We use it as a topical dressing on small wounds much like the medical experts use iodine. It has an effect on skin problems from fungus (it does not cure the fungus, but stops the itching) to fever blisters. Basically it does everything Echinacia does without Echinacia's side effects and allergies associated with that herbal remedy. We have never experienced any side effects from propolis tincture.

We take propolis internally as follows:

To a mug of boiling water add an infusion of mint. It can be a mint tea bag. ... to the tea add the juice from ½ of a small lemon, and sweeten to taste with lots of honey. Now add a ½ teaspoon (5 cc.) of the 1:2 propolis tincture to the tea and give it a stir. Propolis tincture has a strong ''medicinal'' smell and flavor that may necessitate the use of more honey.

To use the propolis topically, just dab a ''Q'' tip or cotton swab (puds to you Aussies) in the tincture and paint on.''

The word PROPOLIS is reputed to have been coined by Aristotle, from the Greek words pro (before) and polis (city), meaning, Before The City, or Defender Of The City. In his writings, Aristotle showed a remarkably accurate and detailed knowledge of bee propolis.

Bees collect tree resin for propolis, just as they collect pollen and honey for food. Bees use propolis to virtually encase the inside of the hive. It is used to caulk and seal every crack, and a very thin coat of propolis is spread over the surfaces of the honeycomb cells, inside and out. This is important for the prevention of infection in the honeycomb.

Propolis is used to sterilize the honeycomb cells that contain the larvae, as well as the cells that store the honey and bee pollen. Propolis is also used extensively at the entrance of the hive to form an elaborate, winding tunnel. Bees literally have to crawl through a tight tunnel of propolis to enter and leave the hive. In this way, bees are cleansed of microbes as they enter the hive, and the sterility of the beehive is maintained. In fact, the beehive is the most sterile environment found in nature. The fact that this structure, located in the wild, and full of food and organisms, can be kept free of disease and infection is quite remarkable. In very real terms, propolis functions as the natural defense and immune system of the beehive.

Bees show definite preferences for certain species of tree resins in their collection of propolis. It appears that bees have unerringly identified the highest quality, and most appropriate raw material to use for propolis. The bees secretions then transform the resin to optimize the benefits of propolis

Chemically, propolis is exceedingly complex and contains a rich variety of potent terpenes and benzoic, caffeic, cinnamic,and phenolic acids. It's also high in flavonoids, which by themselves may account for many of the benefits attributed to propolis-and some researchers refer to propolis as a type of flavonoid.

One of the most significant medical journal articles described how the caffeic acids in propolis and honey might prevent colon cancer, which kills some 60,000 Americans each year. Chinthalapally V. Rao, Ph.D., of the American health Foundation, Valhalla, N.Y., reported in Cancer Research (Sept.15,1993; 53:1482-88) that these caffeic acids prevented the formation of precancerous tissue in rats after they were exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.

Most medical articles, however, still point to the value of propolis as a powerful, natural antibiotic. That doesn't mean eating propolis will let you throw away your antibiotics - only that you may not need them quite as often.

Two medical journal articles document the activity of propolis specifically against Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes dangerous and often deadly surgical infections, blood poisoning, and a type of pneumonia. Five to 10 percent of all patients hospitalized in the United States develop such infections, and S. aureus has become resistant to all but one pharmaceutical antibiotic.

In a Chinese study, researchers found that extracts of propolis - specifically, sinapic, isoferulic, and caffeic acids - inhibited the growth of S. aureus (Qiao Z, China Journal of Chinese Materi Medica, Aug. 1991;16:481-2). A European study reported that ethanol extracts from propolis had a ''marked synergistic effect'' on the anti-staph activity of two antibiotics, streptomycin and cloxacillin, and a moderate effect on several others (Krol W, Arzneimittel-Forschung, May 1993;43:607-9).

Another scientific investigation discovered that propolis inhibited the activity of several streptococcal bacteria species that cause dental caries.Japanese researchers reported that propolis-fed laboratory fats had far fewer caries than those given a regular diet. Propolis protected specifically against Streptococcus mutans and several other strep species (Ikeno K, Caries research, 1991;25:347-51). These strep species are closely related to the germ that causes strep throat.

Propolis works against bacteria in several ways. One study reported that it prevented bacterial cell division and also broke down bacterial walls and cytoplasm, which is how some prescription antibiotics work (Takaisi-KikuniNB, Planta Medica, June 1994;60:222-7).

Perhaps more remarkable is that propolis acts against viruses, which antibiotics do not. A number of medical journal reports have discussed the role of propolisin fighting upper respiratory infections, such as those caused by the common cold and influenza viruses (Focht J, Arzneimittel-Forschung, Aug. 1993;43:921-3). Other investigators have reported that the cinnamic acid extracts of propolis prevent viruses from reproducing, but they worked best when used during the entire infection (Serkedjieva J, Journal of Natural Products, March 1992;55:294-302).

Underpinning many of the benefits of propolis is that some of its components, like the flavonoids and ethanols, function as antioxidant free-radical scavengers. A study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (Jan. 1994;21:9-13)noted that some of the antioxidant phenols in propolis functioned similarly to vitamin E. In another article, researchers described that propolis had anti-inflammatory properties and that it could also prevent blood clots(Drugs Under Experimental & Clinical Research, 1993; 19:197-203).