What is Propolis?

Bee propolis acts as nature’s best defense to protect and heal the hive. To make it, bees take the resin of a tree and combine it with beeswax and enzymes. They use propolis to line the inside of nest cavities, repair honey combs, seal small cracks from the hive, and reduce the size of the hive entrance, they even lay a mat of bee propolis at the entry of the hive to walk over. Most important of all, bee propolis is used by bees as an anti-bacterial, antiviral, and anti-fungal to protect the colony.

Bee propolis contains over 300 natuaral bioactive compounds, flavanoids and phenolics (potent antioxidants) that work at a cellular level to fight free radical and supports the immune system - naturally.

Where did Propolis come from?

Propolis comes from a Greek word meaning “to defend the city"" - Pro ""for"" or ""to defend” and polis ""city"".

Normally there are two ways to collect bee propolis from bee colonies. One, by scraping bee propolis from frames of the hive. Second, using bee propolis traps to collect a higher yield of raw bee propolis.

Propolis traps are essentially plastic screens with small holes put on top of the hive. This is to mimic cracks and creating breezes intended for honeybees to seal off the holes and filling the trap with Propolis.

Once the traps are covered with Propolis, bee keepers collect the traps and cools them down in a refrigerated condition. As the Propolis cools, it becomes harder, brittle and can be easily removed from the trap by flexing and brushing it using a scraping tool.

Annually Comvita source over 14 metric tonnes of high yielding raw Propolis direct from the hives in New Zealand and from around the world. They are all sent to our own extraction facility in Nelson, New Zealand. There, through specialised extraction processes, we purify and refine Propolis into a highly concentrated bulk ingredient that guarantees a minimum 15 percent bioflavonoid and other phenolic compounds in every batch.

The bulk ingredient is then formulated into bee propolis products. We use the PFL™ (Propolis Flavonoid Level) system to guarantee all products are independently tested and have a verified level of flavonoid and other phenolic compounds in every dose. Bee propolis is also used in many other Comvita’s products such as our LOZENGES, ELIXIRS and ORAL SPRAY.

The Comvita® Propolis range is available to shop HERE.