We can bee friendlier to the nature

What is propolis?

Consider bee propolis to be the “glue” that keeps everything together.
Initially, for propolis was thought to provide protection to the hive (e.g. rain, cold winds, snow). But protection is not only purpose of propolis, additionally it helps: reinforce hive structure and stability, minimize disruptive vibrations, prevent diseases and parasites from infecting the hives and mummify small intruders inside the hive.
Propolis is typically a mixture resin, composed of beeswax, saliva, sap and various botanical products in the surrounding area.
Propolis natural composition offers human an array of benefits when incorporated into a regular diet.

How did we collect propolis and make propolis tincture?

1. After we took honey out of hives, we laid propolis meshes in the hives. After one month we took them out of hives and put them into the freezer.
2. In January we decided to make propolis tincture.
3. We took propolis meshes from the freezer.
4. We scraped propolis out of the meshes with a knife.



5. We placed propolis in the freezer and broke it in small pieces.
6. We ground propolis in a coffee grinder.



7. We put the propolis powder in a bottle and added alcohol. We added 300 ml of 98 % ethanol to 100 g of propolis. We shook it well.



8. We stored the bottle in the darkness for about two weeks and shook it occasionally.
9. We filtered the tincture through a paper filter.



10. In a water bath we evaporated some ethanol.



11. We stored the tincture closed in a clean dark bottle.

What are the effects of propolis on humans and in which diseases can it be used?

1. Propolis kills bacteria (Propolis has traditionally been used to kill colds and flu).
2. Propolis lowers blood pressure (If you suffer from hypertension, you may want to consider using raw honey, which contains propolis, as it has been proven to lower blood pressure.)
3. Propolis helps treat bone diseases (Another health benefit of propolis appears to be that it helps to build and maintain healthy bone tissue.)
4. Propolis helps treat allergies (An amazing health benefit of propolis is its ability to calm the symptoms of seasonal allergies.)
5. Propolis boosts prostate cancer cell death (Scientists examined the cancer killing effects of propolis tincture on two common types of prostate cancer. They concluded that propolis tincture markedly improved cell death in prostate cancer cells and suggested the significant role of propolis in chemoprevention of prostate cancer.)
6. Propolis kills colon cancer cells (Scientists found out that it caused the cancer cells to die by necrosis, which means that it interrupted the blood supply to the cell and caused just the local cancer cells to die and NOT healthy, living cells.)
7. Propolis may help treat food poisoning (Scientists found out that propolis inhibited the growth of C. jejuni, Enterobacter faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus, the three bugs that are commonly found in food poisoning cases.)
8. Propolis protects injured teeth (It works against bacteria on teeth.)
9. Heat stress & athletic performance (An active ingredient in propolis known as caffeic acid phenethyl ester, or CAPE, triggers a broad spectrum of biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral.)
10. Propolis is Effective Means Treatment for Warts (Propolis tincture killed a wart in less than two weeks.)

Propolis can affect very strong anti-inflammatory activity in many areas of the body. Inflammation is responsible for diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimers, and many more. Much of the recent research indicates that one of the primary health benefits of propolis is its anti-inflammatory effects.
Chances are that people who consume propolis on a regular basis have less inflammation in their bodies and ultimately less disease, leading to healthier, longer lives.

In the summer we collected and dried various herbs at school garden and at home.



In the cold winter days, students with their teachers cooked and distilled domestic spirit (Schnaps).



When everything was ready we decided to make herbal preparation against parasites.



Twelve herbs were used for the herbal preparation: peppermint (Mentha piperita), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), goose grass (Galium aparine), chamomile (Chamomilla recutita), cayenne pepper (Capsicum frutescens), garlic (Allium sativum), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), ginger (Zingiber officinale), cinnamon (Cinnamonum zeylanicum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) and liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). The herbs were soaked in school brandy and filtered after one month. Some alcohol was later removed and honey with water (1:1) and propolis tincture was added to the preparation.
Animals can receive the herbal preparation orally at a dose of 0.1ml/kg of body weight for 5 days. The preparation eliminates internal parasites in animals, such as worms (helminths), tapeworms and protozoans.
The preparation is the result of the research work of our students. We also made a joint research of preparation with the Veterinary Faculty.

Students who attended the international exchange in Hamburg prepared a presentation for students at school. We showed what we saw, everyone presented what he was doing at the workshops. We highlighted what we liked the most at the exchange. We impressed the students with beautiful photographs and with positive impressions of Hamburg, Stadtteilschule Rissen school and their students.
We all hope to visit Hamburg again.

Our dear friends,
We are wishing you all the blessings of a wonderful Christmas time and we hope you feel all the joys the season brings.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Friends from Maribor

December is the part of the year that fills our hearts with warmth and homeliness, good will. Teachers and students of our school stepped together and joined forces in the desire to do something good. Good for people and also good for our animal friends. The money collected at the school charity bazaar goes into a school fund, that helps students from socially disadvantaged families. Part of the money, food and other necessary aids are donated to the abandoned and wildlife animals every year.
School kitchen was full of joyful smiles from students, who tried to prepare delicious products. They were sold at the bazaar. Although the heating was out of order and there was electricity shortcut, we had fun and successful production.



In the second workshop, the students prepared sunflower seeds and bird cakes,for birds which don't fly south and stay the winter with us.



Our florist prepeared tea bags, herbal baths, herbal blends and fragrant bouquets. In the classroomand the hall smelled like in grandmother's herbal chamber.




During the beekeeping lesson, we made candles and ornaments from wax.




Teachers also contributed their own, unique products.



Our two wooden pyramids were full of wonderful gifts.



In the wooden honeycomb, which is the result of careful and precise work of our school caretaker/janitor Ivan, the Fairtrade products and products that students made, were exhibited.



We also prepared herbal tea with honey and lemon, scented coffee (Fairtrade) and some delicious desserts from pumpkin seeds, which were offered to teachers and parents.



We all joined together as one happy family. I wish that this Christmas spirit would last long after this Christmas season and the warmth in our hearts would keep us cheerful in these cold winter days and that our friendship would help us to achieve our important mutual goals.

The week with students from Maribor gave us a lot of new material to learn. We learn not only to meet them, some new words:), friends, how to work in a area of gardening, apple chips, potato chips ... With their energy we finally have raised garden bed!
Check the fotos!

I've been employed for 11 years at the Biotechnical School Maribor and I've always liked to take on new challenges and come up with crazy ideas. One of them was also bees. When we renovated the old beehive at home and started to be beekeepers, I also had an idea of having bees at school. The hives were set up and the bees flew around and Simon invited me to participate in the project We can bee friendlier to the nature. One day in May Simon introduced me to our new friends Polona and Sven from the cooperating school. Although we only saw each other for a short time, they made a good impression on me. Perhaps it was because of the queen bee, that I was going to insert into the hive that day. It was a good sign. In this year of beekeeping I have realized that bees carry out a lot of useful tasks - among other things, they bring people together.
Short after the meeting of the teachers and principals from Hamburg Simon invited me to the November exchange. I was happy and I am waiting for another unforgettable experience.
On Monday, 20th November, 2017, we drove away with two vans to the airport to Venice. The ride passed quickly by the sounds of entertaining folk songs. The flight was pleasant, and even more pleasant was the reception of students and teachers at the airport. It was followed by a joint dinner, an introduction day, the preparation of products for the market, fun afternoons. We learned languages and got to know each other quite well . We found out that together we could achieve more. There were new ideas, improvements, and our products were growing faster. On Saturday, the market place was full of products. Students were very good at selling. They also made a great raised bed garden. The most important are new friendships between our students. As a teacher I can be proud of all our students. They are reliable. They did everything and much more than we'd expected.
The week passed too fast and we had to go home. Thanks to modern technology and social networks, we have stayed in touch. We can exchange new ideas and experiences.
Thank you all, who helped to organize this week, as great as it was. Thanks for hospitality, advice,cooperation, fellowship and drinks. Thank you all, Polona, Simon, Jolanda, Marcus and especially to Sven. Thank you for all your time, which was spent only for us. Together we can make great products and amazing things happen.
“So work the honey bees. Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach the art of order to a peopled kingdom.” (William Shakespeare)

In the school year 2016/2017 at the Biotechnical School Maribor we decided to raise the beekeeping tradition. In order to make the work easier, I registered a class at the Beekeeping Association of Slovenia. At the beginning we needed the beekeeping equipment. Some equipment was provided by the Beekeeping Association and the other was provided by the school. When we collected all the necessary equipment, we could start. Of course, with the best team: Ivan, Jakob and Mihej.



By the May 2017, we prepared all the necessary equipment for settlement the bees. The girls also joined the guys. They painted beehives.



Together they won a silver recognition award at the beekeeping competition.



On 4th May first three families were brought to school



and on 23th another three.



We didn`t have any honey with young families this year, but they successfully contributed to pollinating plants. In the autumn time, we fed the bees, we treated them against Varoa and prepared them for the winter.

Was the "Youth Exchange" week interesting, exiting, etc...?

	Yes!
	No!
Ergebnis anzeigen Erstellt von meadowkids.eu am 2017.11.30, 11:40.

Our day started at 8:00am in the morning with a breakfast and a birthday surprise for Mr. Sievers, who celebrated 50 years - but if you ask me he looks more like 35 years old.:)
Well after all that we went to see the streets where Mr. Sievers was hanging around since he was a child plus some buildings and statues. When the tour of his childhood was done, we went to the Hostel to grab our stuff so we could go home (Slovenia), but before we went to the Hostel, we said our goodbyes to Mr. Sievers.
After that we went to the train station, where we almost took the wrong train, hahaha, but luckily, a young gentleman warned us that we’re on the wrong side of the train tracks, so we went to the other side, huh, thanks to him we caught our train just in time. When we arrived at the airport we had to wait 2 hours for the plane to arrive. It was a long to time to wait, but at least we had our phones with us so we weren’t bored. When the plane finally arrived, at 16:30 we were ready to board on the plane. The plane ride was 2 hours long. At 18:10 we finally arrived in Italy. From there we drove home with 2 cars. Our ride home was 4hours and 30 minutes long, but it was worth it because we missed our family’s too much and we couldn’t wait to see them. Well unfortunately this is the end of our journey or maybe not…:)































This text was written by: Mihael

Well, here it is, the day 6 of our journey!
Our day started as usual with a breakfast but the only difference was, that this day was the last day with the German’s, because tomorrow we’re going home to Slovenia.:(
But enough about that, let’s get back to the story. After breakfast we went to the train station, so we could go to school to continue with our project, because today was the big fair (Herbstmarkt). When we arrived, we started to prepare for the fair. We had to act fast, because it was going to start at 10:00 o’clock. When the clock hit 10AM, we were ready for the fair!
At the fair they had a lot of different products, like: cookies, muffins, fried vegetables, soap, wreaths….The whole school, all the students in the school, presented a little bit of them selves. There were a lot of people, all asking us, where are we coming from, what are we doing here etc. A lot of them were surprised, how some of my classmates speak so good German!
At 13:00 o’clock the fair was done and we we’re finally free to do whatever we wanted to do! In this case we were pretty hungry, so we wanted to eat. After our delicious lunch we went to the city to have fun. I think we we’re there until 6PM.
The time run so fast and out we all meet in one location, so we could go home(hostel) together - of course with a train, I’m not walking home puff.:) In a hostel we arrived at 19:00 o’clock, but at 20:00 o’clock we already had dinner, so we didn’t have much time to relax. When the clock hit 19:45, we went to the Chinese restaurant to eat. We finished our dinner at 20:30, I think hahahah. So after the dinner the German’s friends went to the Hostel with us for one last goodbye.
I have to say it was really hard for us to say goodbye, but at least we had fun with them one last time. And we will see them in June 2018, when they will visit us!
After they left we prepared ourselves for the next day because tomorrow we are going home (Slovenia)!

On the School Market (Herbstmarkt):








Our pumpkin seeds from Maribor (with different flavours):














There were also other students presenting themselves:




















Some of the guys (finally!) could use a good weather (not raining) and went to the meadow to build raised garden bed. How we did it, check hier: https://mariagribee.blogger.de/stories/2669607/.





Before we went, we say "Goodbye" to Hamburg!











This text was written by: Mihael

Our day started early in the morning with a breakfast as usual. We drove to school with a train. When we finally arrived, we started working as usual. After our work we went to the cafeteria at 13:00 o’clock to eat lunch. Well I have to say that basically everyday we had the same program: we started with the startup projects (where we had lot of fun working with the Germans) and afternoon was reserved for "free time activities".
Well enough about my point of view, let’s get back to the story.:)
After lunch we went ice skating at 16:00 o’clock and we finished ice skating at 17:00 o’clock so we had plenty of time to enjoy. After ice skating we went home(hostel) with the German’s to have some fun. At 19:00 o’clock we went to the Turkish restaurant to eat something - we we’re very tired and hungry. Everybody ordered the food for themselves.
After the restaurant we went home(hostel) to get ready for the next day because tomorrow is going to be a new hardworking day.

Meadow:



















Ice skating:







Finally, a group photo!!!!:) Smileeeee


This text was written by: Mihael

Well, our day started as usual in the morning with the breakfast and getting ready to go to school. When we arrived at school, I said "Another day of working".:) Me and other youngsters were at their usual working group, like yesterday, preparing products for the market on the Saturday.
At 13:30 we ate pizza, that we prepared ourselves! After pizza we had our free time to explore the city or... Me and my new good friend Pascal went to the Hostel to watch Warcraft(movie).
After the movie all of us went to Mr.Sievers’s garage to watch the movie called Sing - I have to say it was a pretty good movie plus we ate pizza again, yeeeey.:)
When the movie was over, we helped to clean up the mess that we all made. After the cleaning up, we went home(Hostel) to prepare for the next day.
But before we went to sleep, me and my classmates talked about how is it working with German people and they said that it was really funny, interesting, exciting….

Pumpkin seeds group:




Hmmmm, doing cookies:


Chips group:




Pizza in the making:


Apple rings for the apple chips:


Working all together:






















A walk through Altona and "Garage Cinema":
















This text was written by: Mihael

We started our day as usual. We all meet in the school and we started working in a different groups (the way Start-Up project works).
In the StartUp project there were many different groups: Cookie group, apple ring group, chips group, gummy bear group, meadow group and of course how can we forget the documentation group (our job is to share our adventures with you, readers:). All these different groups had their own tasks to do, as well as we did in the documentation group. After the groups finished their job, we all went to eat lunch. When we finished our meal, we went to the train station so the train could drive us to the MiniGolf. When we finally arrived at the golf playground we divides in 5 groups. I have to say, that it was very fun playing golf with my new friends. Of course it was very stressful (competitively oriented:) playing golf but at least we had a lot of fun.
After golf we went to the restaurant to eat because we were pretty hungry. We ate stuffed potatoes with vegetables, dressing, meat… When we were finally done with our meal, we went home (hotel), the one from Rissen to their homes, so we could prepare ourselves for the next day.

Cookie Group:











Apple ring group:



















Gummy bear group:







Chips and chocolate group:







This text was written by: Mihael

We started our day at 7AM with a breakfast. After the breakfast we went to the train station so we could go to school. When we finally arrived at their school, they welcomed us happily. We meet for the first, learn the names and our new friends. We also saw the school and get to know their "village".
At 12:30 we went to school cafeteria to eat lunch. After lunch we went to the city to see different structures and buildings with Mr. Sievers and Mr. Hardt, who showed us and explained the meaning of these structures. When we were finally done with the tour, we were free for 1h to explore the city on our own. When the time was up, we went to a sandwich shop to eat. The sandwich was very good but not as good as my grandmas.:) After we finished our sandwiches, we went to the train station so we could go home (hotel). When we finally arrived at the hotel we got ready for the next day.

School in Rissen:






The meadow:












Hamburg:





















This text was written by: Mihael

We started our day at 6:30 AM. We left school at 7AM with 2 cars. Our journey to Hamburg was very long, because it took us 9 hours to get there (7 hours we drove with a car and 2 hours flew with a plane). When we finally got there, we were very tiered but the good German people were waiting for us so we could go to a Turkish restaurant together. The meal at the restaurant was okay but I expected more. After the meal we went to the hostel to go to sleep.



View from the plane:





This text was written by: Mihael

We searched for different recipees, tried out several ones, some of the result were not successful and ended in a dust bin. Finally, these are the winners.










We took the job seriously but also had a lot of fun and were proud when we made it.

Roasted pumpkin seeds in the oven

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Or 2 teaspoons sugar (with cinnamon)
• Or red sweet/hot/Cayenne pepper
• Or wallnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150-180 degrees C).

Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-30 minutes or until they pop; stir occasionally.

Instead of salt we can use other spices: sweet or hot red pepper, Cayenne pepper, cinnamon,wallnuts.

Roasted pumpkin seeds in the frying pan

100g water
2 tablespoons sugar
2cups pumpkin seeds

Put water and sugar into the frying pan, boil it for short time and add the pumpkin seeds, stir all the time untill seeds pop.

BISCUITS

600g flour
200g of sugar powder
400g butter (you can replace it with part of margarine, it is even acceptable in these biscuits)
200g of ground pumpkin seed
pinch of salt
two eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or 3 vanilla sugars or 1 scraped vanilla
milk chocolate
* if desired, apricot or currant jam

Dough ingredients are mixed in the dough and placed in a refrigerator for a few hours (maybe for a few days).Roll out the dough to 4 mm on the baking paper and cut out shapes. They can be placed on baking paper very closely, as they do not grow.

Bake in the oven (180 celcius) for 10 to 15 min.

Step 1:
We peel the potatos and cut them in thin stripes.


Step 2:
We put the potato stripes on a baking tray and grease them with oil.




Step 3:
We bake them 5 to 10 minutes @ 260 °C.


Step 4:
When the potatos are done, we spicy them (salt, pepper or what you wish).

We are looking forward to bake potato chips with you.

PS: We C U in 4 days

We had much fun with searching for the right person and your information was very valuable. Everyone has his own interpration and we hope, that we are pretty close and nobody feels bad. See you on Monday.
And the results are:
001 – Dania (71% students thought, that this is Dania)
002 – Max (57 %)
003 – Lara (57 %)
004 – Melli (100 % - all students agreed for Melli)
005 – Anton (71%)
006 – Leo (86 %)
007 – Nivan (57 %)
008 – Pascal (57%) – Tjorven (43 %)
009 – Hadi (57 %)
010 – Dimi (71 %)
011 – Tjorven (57 %)
012 – Leif (57 %)
013 do 015 – Jannick, Justin, Marjan.