*Propolis is a bee-manufactured glue that they use to seal their homes. I think I've read that they make the propolis by using a sticky substance they gather from tree bark. Plus they add their own spit (which contains certain enzymes maybe??) and the final product is this high-quality glue. I think. Bee people will speak up, I hope, if I'm wrong.
Personal goal: learn to use camera better so I can get better close-up shots.
3 comments:
When I was in Brazil, they gave me propolis lozenges to heal a sore throat. I didn't know that I was eating bee spit.
Some diets tell you to not ever eat honey bec it is essentially "bee vomit." There's a diet called Master Blaster (use your imagination) that promotes this thought, I believe.
My lovely, sweet cyradaria: not only have you vowed never to enter my property again because of my new bee friends, but now I've gone and ruined honey for you. I’m so sorry. Since you’re a word lady, here’s a fun discussion of vomiting vs regurgitation. AND we get a bonus word---“yuke.”
From: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1072/is-honey-really-bee-vomit
Dear Cecil:
Is it true honey is really . . . bee vomit?
— Lisa, Chicago
Dear Lisa:
Well . . . yeah. This isn't something the Honey Marketing Association is going to make the centerpiece of its next ad campaign, but the fact is that honey is made from nectar the worker bees regurgitate, which is a polite way of saying vomit.
The bees collect the nectar from flowers and store it in their "honey stomachs," …Once in the hive they yuke up the nectar and either turn it over to other workers for further processing or else dump it directly into the honeycomb.
Dear Cecil:
You erred in describing honey as "bee vomit." Strictly speaking it is bee regurgitation. Regurgitation is the voluntary bringing up of nutrients. Vomiting is involuntary.
--Marty, Chicago
Cecil replies:
If it looks like vomit, walks like vomit, and quacks like vomit, I say it's vomit. My trusty American Heritage Dictionary, I'm happy to say, backs me up.
— Cecil Adams
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