I have two hives both with top hive entrances. I've reduced the entrances down for the winter months here in Wisconsin and noticed yesterday that the weaker of the two hives has a fair amount of propolis around the entrance. The stronger hive has none. Yesterday was 28 for a high and a week ago we had 70's. So they were flying pretty good last week Sunday thru Wednesday. Before last week we had been between 45 and 60 for highs and 25-40 for lows at night for several weeks. ANy clues as to why I'd have propolis on the one hive entrance and not the other? They stand about 3' apart.
Thanks ,
Greg
Seems obvious to me, but I a newb beek. The weaker hive feels that it needs a smaller opening to maintain the heat that the weak hive can generate. The stronger hive evidently does not feel that the entrance on their hive needs to be reduced any more than it is. Atleast that is my take on it.
That makes perfectly good sense Doby! Very logical!
I have some hives that build propolis in the entrance that almost blocks it up, and some hives that dont put any in the entryway. I think the bees that build it are just preparing for winter better.
My first 2 packages from last year are like this...1 with prop. and 1 without.....And they are only inches apart.
Oh yeh, GJP.....I dont have an answer though, just an observation...( I'm starting to sound like Dexter....)
your friend,
john
I've noticed an overabundance of propolis in some of my hives this year too. There may be other factors at play here such as environmental differences this year pointing to the outlook for a hard winter, or even the different levels of propolis production from hive to hive (or maybe even honeybee race to honeybee race.)
Regardless, I haven't noticed as much propolis production in past years, nor do I recall seeing a hive with the entrance partially lugged shut. My hive that's doing this is not weak, and is actually stronger than others around it. It's not a leaky box either. Go figure - there have to be other factors at work. I have been gradually breeding some Russian back into my colonies as well...who knows? It could even be robbing induced as several have mentioned.
I didn't take a picture of the entrance that I noticed this on, but others have, as you can see in this link (http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222986) from another site.
Last winter I had one hive propolis the entrance almost shut, and the other hive never did anything.
Same here, I have some with more propolis than others. To me some races make more "bee glue" than others. IMHO. I have two Russian hives that I had to nearly tear up the inner cover to get into the hive, it was stuck so bad.
David
Back in the Day....They used to say the severity of the winter could be forecast from the amount of propolis the bees made in sealing up the hive in the fall. According to my mentor (1873-1965) that was a common notion in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
If valid, that would mean those experiencing (noticing) excessive propolis are in for a hard winter.
Quote from: Brian D. Bray on November 11, 2008, 03:22:15 PM
Back in the Day....They used to say the severity of the winter could be forecast from the amount of propolis the bees made in sealing up the hive in the fall. According to my mentor (1873-1965) that was a common notion in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
If valid, that would mean those experiencing (noticing) excessive propolis are in for a hard winter.
Brian I have 4 hives left two are full of propolis two are not I guess it is going to be a very hit and miss cold winter :-D
Keith
It just seemed odd that one hive had it and the other didn't! The idea that they are trying to seal up more of the entrance makes sense. We've had real crapy weatehr this week with rain snow and sleet and temps in the low 20's and teens at night so the bees haven't been out at all. Maybe we'll see some 50's late next week!
Thanks,
Greg