The products produced by bees are valued for their useful qualities, and occupy an honorable place in folk medicine and cosmetology. The composition of various mixtures from honey, bee bread, propolis enhances the effect produced, expands the scope of application.
Honey is often mixed with propolis (ouzo) – a sticky substance that insects extract from tree buds, pollen, plant sap. After digestion, bees use this kind of resin to seal up the holes in the hive, treat honeycomb cells from bacteria, and glue foreign objects. In humans, however, the bond has a medical purpose: as a medicine for getting rid of diseases, an antiseptic.
Features
By itself, propolis is bitter, a little astringent, after taking it, a burning sensation remains in the mouth, turning into a slight numbness of the mucous membranes. Therefore, its combination with sweet bee products is very successful.
Reference!
Propolis gives honey a tart taste, a persistent aroma of resin with essential oil and wax, makes it thicker and darker in color.
Propolis honey is of natural origin, both of its components are well absorbed by the human body. The composition of each portion is slightly different, because insects collect sap, pollen from different plants, gradually accumulating in the combs. The medicine retains everything that honey is useful for, the healing properties of propolis are added.
Varieties
The main difference between the products is the color, which depends on the color of the processed nectar. For example, from the flowers of linden, acacia, yellow shades are obtained, buckwheat – brown. Honey and propolis of any color have the same medicinal properties.
The taste is determined by the amount of propolis added: if its concentration is increased, the bitterness is felt more strongly.
Green honey
There is a variety of green propolis honey. This product is produced in forest apiaries. In the absence of flowers, bees collect honeydew and honeydew – a sugary liquid secreted by leaves, needles, insects that feed on plant sap.
Thick green honey is more susceptible to fermentation, sensitive to storage conditions. Its use should not be postponed for long.
Chemical composition
The honey-propolis mixture is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals necessary for the human body. It is rich in an important component of the daily diet – vitamins A, C, E, B, saturated with trace elements – 100 g contains:
- copper, iron, calcium, fluorine, cobalt, phosphorus – more than 2% of the daily value;
- potassium, manganese, iodine – over 1%;
- sodium, sulfur, magnesium, zinc.
All this together with amino acids, essential oils, enzymes makes the drug extremely useful. There is almost no fat in honey, but it is quite high in calories due to natural sugar.
Useful Properties
The mixture of products for the extraction of which beekeeping was created is widely used, since it combines the unique healing qualities of all components. Before using honey with propolis, its benefits and harms to human health should be evaluated by a doctor.
This bee gift helps in the following cases:
- Increase of general immunity, resistance to harmful influences.
- Treatment of respiratory diseases, including colds, viral.
- Healing of burns, wounds, cuts, ulcers on the mucous membranes. Fight against fungus.
- Drawing out pus. Removal of inflammation, edema, tumors.
- Warming up with anesthetic effect for rheumatism, arthritis, radiculitis.
- Improving the condition of the skin, nails and hair, slowing down the aging of the body.
- Cleansing of blood vessels, organs of the digestive system.
- Reducing fever at elevated temperatures, pain.
- Improving night sleep, minimizing the effects of stress, overwork.
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In addition, honey with propolis gradually normalizes blood pressure and heart rate. It is suitable for taking with hypertension, reducing the risk of stroke, and is indicated for people with low blood pressure, vascular dystonia.
This medicine is sweet, fragrant, children take it with pleasure.
Противопоказания
A healthy adult can only be harmed by a strong excess of therapeutic doses of the drug. But it is better to study the instructions in advance on how to take propolis honey, its beneficial properties and contraindications.
The drug should not be used by people with an allergic reaction to any of the ingredients, neither internally, nor for the treatment of wounds, burns. Intolerance is rare, but if it is identified, you need to protect yourself from allergens.
Reference!
When using for the first time, you need to apply a drop of the substance to the skin of the wrist, elbow bend. If within 1 hour there is redness, itching, burning, then there is an allergy. Also symptoms of intolerance are abdominal cramps after ingestion, cough, nausea, rash, swelling, difficulty breathing.
Traditionally, it is not recommended to give a honey product with propolis to children under 3 years old due to the abundance of sugars in it and the risk of allergies. It should be carefully taken by pregnant women – hormonal levels may change, which will negatively affect the bearing of the fetus. The same applies to lactating women – all substances pass into breast milk, but are not absorbed by the baby’s stomach.
The drug is contraindicated for internal use in people with diseases of the liver, gallbladder and bladder, pancreas, heart. It is worth refraining from it in the presence of uterine fibroids in women and other tumors, diabetes mellitus, obesity, the risk of blood clots in the vessels.
Common cooking mistakes
It is not difficult to independently make honey with propolis for further use, but in order to preserve its useful qualities, it is important not to make a few mistakes:
- often when buying a bond, people do not think that after cleaning it from impurities, the concentration of the pure substance will decrease by more than a third;
- they forget to separate the wax and debris from the bee glue in advance, believing that this problem can be solved by filtering the finished mixture;
- do not heat the propolis particles to the temperature required for complete dissolution (at least 80 ° C);
- honey, not figuring it out, they prepare how to cook the uzu: they heat it up too much. But it emits harmful substances if the temperature is exceeded 50 ° C, and it cannot be added to boiling water;
- store the finished mixture in the refrigerator, where it begins to deteriorate, mold.
How to prepare and store
If you want to get a different concentration of substances than in finished pharmaceutical preparations, you should study in detail the process of how you can make honey with propolis yourself.
To remove impurities, bee glue is frozen, ground on a grater or with a knife, and rubbed with a rolling pin. The powder is poured with clean water for 2 hours, mixed several times. Impurities float, the purified bond remains at the bottom.
The standard medicinal mixture consists of 1 teaspoon of propolis (pure) and 10 teaspoons of honey, that is, 1:10. For the prevention of diseases, a ratio of 1:20 is enough, and for serious treatment, you can increase it to 1: 5 or 1: 3.
After drying, the sticky powder is placed in a water bath at a temperature of more than 80 ° C, waiting for complete dissolution. Simultaneously, honey is heated in a water bath, heated to 40 ° C, then propolis is poured over it, mixed.
The finished mixture is poured into glass jars, sealed.
Remember!
Store the product in a cool, dark place without strong odors. It is suitable for use for a long time – it does not lose its useful qualities for about 1 year. But it is better to use honey without waiting for this period.
Gradually the mixture may become sugar-colored. Crystals dissolve in a warm water bath.
Ways to use
In medicine and cosmetology, there are several methods on how to take honey with propolis. Depending on the purpose, it is used internally and externally, supplemented with essential oils, aloe or lemon juice, bee bread to increase the effectiveness.
Important!
The common method of taking is 1 teaspoon (for children under 7 years old – 1/4, up to 14 years old – 1/2 each) 2-3 times a day, preferably on an empty stomach. It is required to slowly dissolve each portion. It is a general tonic, suitable for combating colds, inflammation of the oral mucosa.
Other recipes for oral administration are also known, for example, dissolve 1 tablespoon of the product in a mug of warm tea, milk and drink before bedtime. Helps with angina, insomnia.
In the treatment of respiratory diseases, a periodic 10-minute rinse with an aqueous solution of the drug (1 part of water for 2-3 parts of honey with propolis), inhalation (1: 1 ratio) using a device or over a container with a heated medicine is used.
Inflammations of the mucous membrane of the eyes and nose are cured with drops, the preparation of which consists in mixing the medicine with warm boiled water (ratio 1: 3).
For coughs, pulmonary, joint diseases, warming compresses are popular. The mixture is either rubbed into the skin or applied to fabric and wrapped in a bandage. The oiled area is wrapped in a blanket and a scarf for 30-40 minutes.
On wounds, ulcers, places of burns and frostbite, a medicinal ointment is applied, periodically replaced with fresh one.
For skin and hair care, a cosmetic mask, cream, balm is used, where bee products are supplemented with nourishing oils, such as olive oils.
Propolis honey – natural, healthy – can replace many drugs from the first aid kit. Like other medicines, it must be used taking into account contraindications, observing the dosage and preparation process.
