Ten years ago, in 2016, the first International Propolis Conference, Propolis in Human and Bee Health, was held at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.

Soon afterwards, Dr Dave Watson and I brought together a small group of leading propolis researchers — Professors Bankova, Volpi, Paradkar and Božič — to establish the International Propolis Research Group (IPRG). The rest, as they say, is history.

The second International Propolis Conference was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2018, hosted by Professor Vassya Bankova. The third took place in Istanbul in 2024, hosted by Balparmak, and the fourth was held in Brazil in 2025 with the support of Apis Flora. In addition to these in-person gatherings, we held two highly successful online conferences during the COVID years, enabling our international community to continue meeting, exchanging ideas and building collaborations.

Welcome

Today, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 5th International Propolis Conference — Propolis: Defender of the City — Pioneering New Paradigms.

This conference will explore the remarkable ability of the honeybee to defend its colony — its “city” — both internally and externally through the use of propolis. The word itself comes from the Greek pro, meaning “before” or “in defence of”, and polis, meaning “city”.

Equally remarkable is the fact that humans have used propolis for thousands of years as a medicine to help defend our own “city” — the human body.

But propolis is no ordinary, one-dimensional, pharmaceutical-style medicine. Rather, it represents a different, gentler and multidimensional approach to medicine — and is potentially one of the most powerful natural therapeutic substances available to us.

A Little More History

It is particularly fitting that we should discuss this extraordinary substance within the ancient walled city of York, still surrounded today by some 2.5 miles of defensive walls whose origins stretch back nearly 2,000 years to Roman times.

Our meeting will take place in the historic Guildhall, which has stood at the heart of civic life in York since the 13th century. For centuries, it has been a place where craftsmen, merchants and civic leaders have gathered to work together for the good of their community.

In this, too, there is an echo of the honeybee: cooperation, industry and mutual support.

Sustainability – Sustainability –  Sustainability 

This year’s conference is jointly hosted by the Apiceutical Research Centre(ARC) and the University of York.

The Apiceutical Research Centre is dedicated to research into both medicines from the beehive and sustainable approaches to beekeeping. The University of York, meanwhile, is at the forefront of research into practical and effective approaches to sustainability in response to the global environmental and climate challenges we face.

The Defender of the City conference will therefore focus not only on the extraordinary potential of propolis, but also on the wider sustainability challenges confronting honeybees, human health and the future of medicines.

If we are to meet those challenges, we need to pioneer new paradigms: new ways of understanding health and disease; new approaches to therapeutics; and new ways of thinking about the relationship between human health, bee health and the health of our environment.

Over the coming days, I hope we will share knowledge, challenge assumptions, forge new collaborations and, above all, explore how propolis and other medicines from the beehive might contribute to more effective and sustainable approaches to health.

We very much look forward to welcoming you to York and to this exciting opportunity to help shape the health therapeutics of the future.