Propolis and Mead

Mead and Propolis - coming soon!

At the first markets I did I just sat behind a small table with a few jars of honey, looking faintly embarrassed.
As time went on the things I sold expanded often as a result of a discussion with someone at the stall.
On Sunday I was at the Forest Centre Farmer's Market but had to desert the stall for a few minutes to take a phone call. When I returned I found Zena, who has the stall next to me, talking to a couple of chaps and she informed me I had 'agreed to make some mead'. Apparently they had asked the brewer at the market if they did mead which they didn't so asked at my stall.
In my younger days I made home made wine and beer and last Summer decided to use the apple wind falls to make cider which wasn't too bad.
So, I thought 'Why not!', I had most of the equipment anyway. Apart from it being honey wine I didn't know too much about it and I spent some time Googling.
This morning I went to the excellent Happy Brewer shop in Bedford who pointed me in the right direction for some recipes and kitted me out with yeasts, etc. I'll have a look at the sites he showed me and will get things going by the end of the week. I intend making two varieties but Happy Brewer tell me its a fairly long process [several months] so please be patient.
Paul Giffney, who asked about mead at the market, has volunteered to be a tester for the mead and hopefully once his psychiatric tests are cleared and his next of kin sign the necessary waiver forms we will be on our way!

Recently I was also asked about Propolis. As beekeepers know this is a sticky substance made by bees primarily from tree resin, which they use to seal small gaps in the hive. It also has antiseptic properties and the bees coat the inside of the hive with it to make one of the most sterile environments in nature. It also has medicinal properties.
By coincidence I had just looked at one of my hives for the first time this year and as it was a late arrival last year, it had been undisturbed for some time. As a result when I opened it there was propolis everywhere and I was able to collect quite a lot.

Next stage was to find a recipe for it which wasn't as easy as I thought but eventually found something suitable. The actual process is quite simple but there are lots of variations in strengths etc.
Basically the propolis is very insoluble so it has to be dissolved in alcohol. Problem is it has to be at least 70%ABV which isn't easy to get hold of in the UK and I couldn't get any from local chemists
Alcohol of this strength is usually 'denaturated'  to stop people getting pissed on it by adding chemicals to make it undrinkable.
However I finally got some from Germany and chopped up the propolis and added it to the alcohol.
The mix has to be shaken 2-3 times a day for 3 weeks.

Its then strained and bottled.