propolis

[BjornBee]

Are bees able and if so to what extent do they tear down or move propolis?

[Michael Bush]

Yes they can, but usually they put it there because they wanted it there. They can move it but it is a lot of work for them. It's harder to move than pollen and they hardly every move that either. About the only time I've seen them open anything up was for ventilation and even then they seem to just put up with the lack of ventilation rather than move the propolis that blocks it.

[BjornBee]

The ventalation holes is what I was referring the question about. Sometimes they block one and never touch the next. Also I have queen excluders that have some on and didn't know if they would move that stuff around when it gets hard. I know I wouldn't want to.

[beegee]

I left a small chunk of propolis on the bottom board entrance ramp, to see if they would recycle it to save from harvesting more. They seemed only slightly interested in it and it stayed there for about a month before I scraped it off. I thought they would welcome such a large chunk. I forget that bees don't think or reason. They simply react....

[Michael Bush]

It's the same with wax. They seem to recycle it when they are rearranging comb in the hive, but if you leave a chunk in front of a hive they never do anything with it.

[denise_ky]

I have a few frames with old wax leaning against my garden shed. For the past two years I've seen bees gathering the wax and putting it in/on their pollen baskets. That's the only reason I haven't moved them or cleaned them up. It's fascinating to watch.
D.

[BjornBee]

I am totally ignorant on this matter of bees collecting old wax. And will not question someone else to the extent of not believing them, BUT...are you sure there was not some old pollen or something else they were after.
If I did not read it on this forum I would of said it did not happen.

By the way, your not related to hoosierhiver are you. This brings up old memories.

[Michael Bush]

I've had lots of old wax around and never seen the bees gather any of it. I've also never seen them collect pollen from old wax, although you would think they would. Maybe they would if there were a shortage at the time.

If I leave wax around it just get's full of wax moths.

[Russ]

I had a couple of Queen Excluders that had a lot of proplis on it and I used a small propane torch to melt the wax and proplus off. Another tip that I stumbled across when installing foundation in slotted frames with no provision for the nail in strip is I use a small amount of beeswax and a light duty electric soldering iron to melt the wax and hold the foundation in place. Be careful as the wax melts easy.

[hoosierhiver]

the propolis ,like the wax gets softer in the heat,when they need it torn down for more ventilation, it's conveniently soft.

[honeyman46408]

About the bees moving wax;
My mentor said he saw them moving wax in their pollan sacs last year for the first time and he has been a BK for over 50 years so it is possiable but not often.

[GalvestonCo]

I'm a first year beekeeper. When I took my hive top feeders off I washed them out with the water hose and set them on the patio to dry. A little later I noticed a few bees taking the propolis off the bottoms. In a couple of days they had cleaned up every scrap. They did the same with two queen excluders a few weeks ago.

[Michael Bush]

I guess it just depends on what's in their heads at the time.

[denise_ky]

Honeyman,
Thank you for the rescue! I've attempted to get a photo of the bees getting the wax, I'll have to try again. course I think honeyman's post is all I needed. Whew!
D.