Propolis & Humans

Less known than honey, propolis has been discovered and used since ancient times. Aristotle considered it as a remedy for skin diseases, wounds and suppuration. Aristotle had already considered Propolis as a remedy for skin affections, wounds and festering.

The earliest evidence of use of propolis probably is dated from the era of ancient Egypt, where it was used for its preservative and aromatic properties in the holy ritual of mummification and embalming. This shows the powerful conservative properties of propolis.

Propolis was also known at the time of ancient Greece. Moreover it is during this period that was born the word propolis, the prefix pro means before, ahead and polis: the city. According to comments, this material still ill-known from Greek clever, stood at the entrance of the hive, and stood as a protective barrier in way of chicanes, preventing pests and others from entering the city of bees. We note in particular that Aristotle mentions it in his work History of Animals and already notice about its antiseptic and healing properties, describing it as a remedy for skin diseases, wounds and suppuration.

At Rome, propolis is more expensive than honey. Every legionnaire had one piece during military campaigns. Pline said that it withdrew the sting, reduced swelling, decreased nerve pain, healed ulcers, abscesses and boils…

At the same time, on the South American continent, Inca seemed to use propolis for its anti-microbial properties to fight against the disease, which causes fever.

Few medical works from the 12th century mention that propolis was part of the preparation of many medicines fighting against minor infections of the skin and the respiratory system.

In France, during the 18^th century it was used as a drug for wounds. Its popularity will increase at the beginning of our century because it will be used almost exclusively to heal the wounds of injured at the time of the Boer War.

In France, during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, we have found some diffuse traces of its use in the treatment of wounds, particularly on the battlefields of the Napoleonic campaigns.

It is especially during the colonial war that pitted the Boers, Dutch people of South Africa, against the British soldiers between 1880 and 1902 that the use of propolis peaked because of the beneficial results it engendered in part of the disinfection, of anesthesia and the healing of wounds of war.

During In World War II, the soviet clinics routinely used it with success.

Then, without had been continued, the use of propolis has since lasted thousands of years. That is the reason why today this product arouses such an important curiosity in the scientific community that is working since the 1970s to demonstrate and reveal the secrets of a substance that continues and will not cease to amaze us.

Current practices in human medicine were handed down today. Research and numerous studies have been conducted over the past thirty years and more than satisfactory results have attracted the interest of science.