Hello all! I have been having too much fun playing in the propolis lately but one problem..I'm all out :shock: :roll: I am working on different extraction methods and would be happy to share the resulting product. So far i have made a really wonderful all purpose crystaline formula that can be sprinkled on just about anything. If you can spare your lovely goop i would love to take it and can pay postage. Am willing to pay but don't really know how much to offer :)
Also if anyone has any ideas....!
Care to share your 'eally wonderful all purpose crystaline formula'? My son is interested in propolis and health, he's looking for options.
You bet! After you harvest the propolis freeze it overnight and then grind it up in a blender or coffee grinder (you may want to get one just for this purpose as the stuff is obviously messy but you can clean it right up with denatured alcohol). Put powdered propolis in a jar (size dependent upon how much prop.) and fill jar about halfway up with the STRONGEST grain alcohol you can find (i went to my local liquer store and asked for their highest proof which ended up being 156 proof product called DIESEL). Shake it all up and let sit for a day or two until you see all the white wax seperated out on the bottom of the jar and then drain off with a turkey baster into a large pan-the large pan is the trick to getting the mix to crystalize instead of turn into goo. let the alcohol evaporate out of the product and it should create a hard resin like layer all over the bottom of pan. Take a razon blade and scrape it off. Store the crystal in a cool place or the resin will gob up again. I sprinkle the crystal in food products and such, i'm sure you could mix with honey and use in baked goods or something. Be aware that propolis even extracted to this point is a very sticky and waxy substance and if you eat some by itself it tastes not great and coats your teeth.
Thank you, bberry, I'll print this up and show it to him tonight! Appreciate it :)
Bberry, it sounds like there would have to be an awful lot of propolis to use a food processor or coffee grinder. It sounds that way anyways. I wonder if freezing it and then using a mortar and pestle would do the same trick? I am certainly curious.
When I took a course on hive products, propolis was one of the subjects. It seems to me (and I am not totally sure about this), but I think there is a product that is available in the U.S. called "Everclear". It can be obtained from the drug store. It can be used in place of overproof alcohol products. Personally, this stuff doesn't sound very good to me, "everclear", hmmmm.....when I will make any propolis tincture or anything like that I would proabably stick to 150% overproof Rum. That way, there would be not waste if I didn't use up all the rum, hee, hee.
Has anyone ever heard of "Everclear", maybe I am just fabricating this due to a memory lapse, but I think that is what the product was called. Not available in Canada, but in the states, yes.
What if there are other impurities in the propolis when it is gathered, how does one clean the propolis? Is it just like when cleaning wax, by heating up in water? I have been very curious about propolis and preparation of it. HAve a wonderful and beautiful day, loving this life we live. Cindi
Hi Cindi
Yes, there is everclear..it is at the liquor stores & is NASTY!!! Tried it while young & dumb..I'm with you on the rum! yum yum I love rum!!
Jody
Yep, Everclear is about a strong as U can get before U graduate to moonshine. I am just another of the ones that when young and dumb tried to much of it. Then again, we used to inject oranges with it to take on football game road trips. Made for an interesting halftime show.
Mike
Think I was there..we did watermelons in the summer! My stomach rolls when I see the label & MD 2020 bottles :-Xurp!
Everclear....ah yes. the good ole days.
We used it for hunch punch. Chopped fruit up and put it in a big container with fruit punch and everclear. If someone didn't want to drink, they would be encouraged to eat the fruit. Supposedly, the fruit absorbed the alcohol and mad some non drinkers a little giddy. Personally, I didn't try to sneak a drunk on anyone, if they wanted to drink then that was fine, if not, then more for me!!
Steve
Eeeew, everclear sounds gross. I have tasted some nasty moonshine in my day, and I bet everclear would come close to it, yich!!! I thought it was like some kind of rubbing alcohol or something when it was discussed at the bee seminar. Oh well, ich, ich, ich....beautiful and a great life. Cindi
I won't even go there with the Everclear stories-young and stupid for sure! :roll:It is really nasty stuff. As for the propolis it absorbed into solution nicely and left behind all the wax and heavier debris in the bottom of the jar-the lighter things like bee parts and such floated right there on top and was easy to remove.
Mmmmmm...... Shine!!!
I pick the banjo and used to play in a semi-pro bluegrass band. We would go to bluegrass festivals all over Oregon and Washington during the summers and I've had my fair share of those fine corn squeezins. My fav was some "White Lightning" from West Virginia that a friend brought back in his motorhome the winter before. It was corn whiskey brewed with blackberries and distilled to 200 proof. It knocked my socks off!!! Had to sit down. Couldnt feel my legs. That was from one sip. Man I wish distilling was legal here, I'd be cookin in the woodshed every day!!!
Sean Kelly
still young, still dumb :-D