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60,000 individuals living together in a 40-liter box. It's a constant 35°C, with high humidity. Sugar, in the form of honey, is stored everywhere, and thousands of individuals head out into the wild before coming back inside, with no precautions at all.
On paper, it's the perfect environment for a health disaster. 35°C with humidity and sugar is exactly what laboratories use to grow bacteria. A hospital fights hard to avoid this in rooms twice as large, with ten times fewer people.
And yet, inside a hive: nothing. No epidemics, no mold. The inside of a hive is more sterile than an operating room, and it has been that way for millennia.
How?
The answer lies in a single substance. A substance that only one living creature knows how to make. And one that we've forgotten.
It's what's known as propolis
The word comes from the Greek, meaning "before the city." That's exactly what it is: a resinous cement made by bees from tree sap mixed with their digestive secretions. With this cement, they coat every inch of the inside of the hive, from the walls to the cells, including every crack and opening, which they narrow in autumn to prepare for winter.
It's this cement that keeps their city healthy and protects it from everything.
And yet its exact composition changes with every harvest.
They precisely select saps from the surrounding nature depending on their hive's needs at the time. A living, intelligent material, constantly adapting to its environment.
They called it "black wax" and used it to embalm their dead — the most demanding use imaginable in terms of preservation. Hippocrates, later, used it to treat wounds. In the Middle Ages, monasteries kept hives the way one runs an apothecary.
Then, at some point, we forgot.We industrialized. And of all the richness of the hive, only one thing remained on our shelves: honey.
Everyone says "propolis" as if there were only one kind. That's a mistake. Its color and concentration vary depending on the flora the bees forage and on how it is extracted. At Ballot-Flurin, that gives us two preparations, for two uses.
This is the raw form, the richest resin, slowly extracted in brandy to release all of its compounds. Its taste is pronounced, resinous. This is the winter propolis, the historic format used by beekeepers themselves. Because it is extracted with alcohol, it is reserved for adults.
A more delicate preparation, without alcohol, with a lighter taste. This is the one chosen for children from age 3, sensitive individuals, and during pregnancy on medical advice. The same noble substance, in a form accessible to the whole family.
When a new resistant microbe appears in the world, laboratories take an average of 10 years to develop a molecule capable of responding to it. 10 years, and more than a billion dollars invested per molecule.
When a new threat appears in a hive, bees take 1 hour.
1 hour to go out into nature, identify the right sap, and coat the affected areas of the hive.
This ratio is staggering. 10 years versus 1 hour.
What bees do, and what researchers don't know how to replicate, is work with hundreds of living molecules in synergy. Not a single isolated molecule: a whole that adapts.
This is how, for millennia, the hive has made it through seasons, climates and threats, always with the same substance, never once failing the bees.
If this substance has kept a city of 60,000 individuals crammed into 40 liters healthy for millennia, it's easy to see why humans have been interested in it for so long.
The Egyptians harvested it. Hippocrates described it. Medieval monasteries preserved it with great care. Singers and orators always carried some in their pocket, long before industrial lozenges existed. And in the Pyrenees, beekeepers have always kept a small bottle of extract close at hand, especially in winter.
Three and a half millennia of continuous use, on every continent where bees live. Few natural substances can claim as much.
Even today, black propolis remains the winter ritual among those who know it: a few drops in a spoonful of honey or directly under the tongue.
Propolis today is produced on a large scale in Brazil, China, and Eastern Europe. Most of what you find on the French market is imported. That's rarely written in bold on the bottles.
Yet bees make their propolis with whatever they have close by. A Brazilian bee selects Brazilian saps, suited to its Brazilian environment. A bee from the Pyrenees works with Pyrenean flora. Propolis is the exact reflection of the terroir where it was born.
And here's where it gets complicated: when bees are placed in an urban or industrial area, they use what they find to make their propolis. Tar, varnish, mineral oils. Fat-soluble pollutants present in the hive's environment become concentrated in the propolis, because that's its biological function: to trap whatever threatens the hive.
Propolis harvested in a polluted area concentrates that pollution.
The extraction method matters just as much. Many extracts on the market are obtained in just a few days, through quick macerations, sometimes using industrial solvents.
Before buying propolis, ask three questions: Where was it harvested? How was it harvested? How was it extracted?
On most operations, propolis is harvested by scraping the frames or using plastic grids. The result: propolis loaded with impurities, wax, sometimes debris, and stressed bees. We use a wooden device placed on top of the hive. The bees naturally seal the gaps with their fresh propolis. We harvest a pure, intact resin, without having to disturb the colony.
Our propolis is harvested by a network of partner beekeepers, trained in and committed to the Apiculture Douce® method, based in unspoiled terroirs, far from industrial and urban pollution. There, the bees have access to sap from poplar and chestnut buds, and from mountain conifers. No tar, no varnish, no mineral oil. It's this French mountain flora that you find in their propolis.
To release the full range of active compounds concentrated in propolis, extraction is traditionally done with alcohol. It's what penetrates the resin and releases the molecules. Many extracts on the market are obtained in just a few days, through quick macerations. Ours take a minimum of two months. Long macerations alternated with manual stirring. We take our cue from the bees' own work in the hive: they only add materials to one another drop by drop, in a slow, collective pre-digestion.
All our preparations are stirred by hand, following a precise pattern, by people, in a calm state of mind. No heavy machinery. The preparations are stored near an active hive before bottling. Our quality lab checks for the total absence of contamination, and verifies the microbiological and living quality of every batch. This is the only propolis we use, and we offer it in a range of formats.
It is extracted using brandy. This is the traditional extraction method, which releases the full concentration of the propolis. It is reserved for adults and not recommended for pregnant women, children, or people who cannot tolerate alcohol.
This is an alcohol-free preparation, gentler, with a lighter taste. This is the one we recommend for children (from age 3), people sensitive to alcohol or unable to consume it, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding on medical advice.
In a world where the role of microbiomes — skin, oral, or vaginal — is increasingly recognized as essential to balance and health, White Propolis stands out as a relevant response to microbial imbalances.
Who it's for: you want the most versatile substance, for the whole family, that lasts several months.
This is the historic format, the one beekeepers themselves used. The drop extract dissolves into a spoonful of honey or is taken directly under the tongue. The spray goes straight to the point: ready to use, with no dilution or spoon needed, it slips into a pocket or bag to be used anywhere. Same gesture, the format that suits you.
Who it's for: you're looking for a formula targeted at a specific need, in a single, pre-dosed serving.
This is the format for synergies. On its own, propolis is a versatile substance. Combined with plants and other bee products (royal jelly, pollen, honey) and medicinal plants, it becomes the foundation for formulas designed for a specific need: digestive comfort, immunity, vitality, sleep... throughout the seasons. The ampoule offers a single ready-to-use dose; tablets or gummies offer the most discreet, on-the-go option. The same noble substance, tailored to what you need.
Who it's for: you want to bring propolis into a topical care product, as part of your skincare routine.
This is the format for skin application, one that dates back to the very first uses of propolis. The face cream incorporates it into a daily care product with a supple texture, suited to all skin types. The lip balm packages it into an on-the-go format, rich and protective, for a pocket or bag. The ointment, more concentrated, is kept for targeted use on areas that need it. The same noble substance from our gentle beekeeping network, to take care of the whole family's skin throughout the seasons.
The same substance that has protected 60,000 bees for millennia. Harvested in unspoiled terroirs, far from any pollution, by our Apiculture DOUCE® network.
The natural ally for biting cold and harsh environments: severe cold, public places, pollution, air conditioning, seasonal changes, a throat on the verge...
The alcohol-free spray designed to soothe the throat and mouth of the whole family: severe cold, cool seasons, air conditioning, back-to-school, public places, travel...