Another reason (if one was needed) to stop the 'spring cleaning' obsession

[jenkinsbrynmair]

https://entomologytoday.org/2018/11/28/propolis-how-beekeepers-encourage-better-hive-health/

 

[domino]

I just clean anything, not a broad box.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

broad box? is that like a long deep hive?

 

[domino]

broad box? is that like a long deep hive?

Coffin shaped hives, saves on wood.

 

[Murox]

I am totally amazed that it needs an article like this to state something about propolis that has been "known about" since I was in short trousers helping my grandfather with his bees. Or am I Just a bit of a dinosaur ?

 

[Finman]

I am totally amazed that it needs an article like this to state something about propolis that has been "known about" since I was in short trousers helping my grandfather with his bees. Or am I Just a bit of a dinosaur ?

Where are those researches, what diseases propolis heels.

Beekeepers believe what ever about propolis.

 

[birdsandbees]

no specific Infections given just the below.

Investigations have shown that interior walls painted with propolis extract resulted in colonies with lower bacterial loads and with worker bees that expressed lower levels of immune gene expression. Sustained activation of immune genes comes at an energy cost, which can result in a reduction in brood numbers and pose a threat to overall colony health. Further studies have shown that reduced immune activation (and therefore less energy spent on fighting infection) comes from reduced pathogen loads in high-propolis colonies and not from immune suppression by propolis.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Coffin shaped hives, saves on wood.

And repurposeable when the beekeeper shuffles off the mortal coil?

 

[Murox]

Where are those researches, what diseases propolis heels.

Beekeepers believe what ever about propolis.

I think we both know that proper research is sadly lacking. Anecdotally its known about and the lore passed to me and no doubt many others is not diminished by a lack of research.
Feral/wild bees prepare their chosen home by covering the walls with a layer of propolis as it has antimicrobial properties which help protect the colony from harmful germs then they bond
honeycomb to it which supports many times its own weight.
In the hive it seals any cracks & holes and reduces entrances. If an intruder enters the hive, the bees will sting it to death, but if the intruder is too large, maybe a mouse, they can’t get it out. To keep the carcass from decomposing in the hive, the bees cover it in propolis. The propolis acts as a mummifying agent and helps keep the hive 'sterile' and tidy. (1965 Hoyt M. The World of Bees.)
Hippocrates (460 BC-377 BC), who is largely accepted as the originator of modern medicine, wrote about the properties of propolis during his time as a physician.
Ancient civilizations used propolis for its medicinal properties. The Greeks used it, the Assyrians put it on wounds to fight infection and to help the healing processes and the Egyptians used it to embalm mummies. Somehow it just seems to me at least that propolis in the hive has something to do with the health of the bees.

https://academic.oup.com/jee/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jee/toy363/5199372

 

[Finman]

I think we both know that proper research is sadly lacking. Anecdotally its known about and the lore passed to me and no doubt many others is not diminished by a lack of research.
Feral/wild bees prepare their chosen home by covering the walls with a layer of propolis as it has antimicrobial properties which help protect the colony from harmful germs then they bond
honeycomb to it which supports many times its own weight.
In the hive it seals any cracks & holes and reduces entrances. If an intruder enters the hive, the bees will sting it to death, but if the intruder is too large, maybe a mouse, they can’t get it out. To keep the carcass from decomposing in the hive, the bees cover it in propolis. The propolis acts as a mummifying agent and helps keep the hive 'sterile' and tidy. (1965 Hoyt M. The World of Bees.)
Hippocrates (460 BC-377 BC), who .....
Ancient civilizations used propolis for its medicinal properties. The Greeks used it, the Assyrians put it on wounds to fight infection and to help the healing processes and the Egyptians used it to embalm mummies. Somehow it just seems to me at least that propolis in the hive has Such to do with the health of the bees.

https://academic.oup.com/jee/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jee/toy363/5199372

The story is good.
.
.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I thought it was best to scorch the inside of new boxes with a blowlamp? Which helps to seal the surface and reduce the new wood smell which bees dislike.

Sounds like these researchers scratched up the bare new boxes. Can I leave this step out?

 

[SDM]

I thought it was best to scorch the inside of new boxes with a blowlamp? Which helps to seal the surface and reduce the new wood smell which bees dislike.

Sounds like these researchers scratched up the bare new boxes. Can I leave this step out?

Yes

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I am totally amazed that it needs an article like this to state something about propolis that has been "known about" since I was in short trousers helping my grandfather with his bees. Or am I Just a bit of a dinosaur ?

Yes, but unfortunately the dictum of the scrub the life out of everything every spring brigade has taken hold. Scientists are now beginning to realise that the insides of hives are best left alone unless disease takes hold.
Tom Seeley has done some work on this, and when I asked him at the WBKA summer school in Aberystwyth during the summer - he agreed - spring cleaning is a waste of time and counter productive.

I thought it was best to scorch the inside of new boxes with a blowlamp?

First time I've heard of such a thing

 

[Parsonage Bees]

First time I've heard of such a thing

No clue where I got this idea. Maybe extending from scorching old boxes. Thanks.

 

[pargyle]

I've been painting the inside of new hives with a tincture of propolis that I make myself since I started beekeeping ... seemed like a good idea to me to give them a start on what they do naturally. Looks like the science has finally caught up with me !

 

[For want of a better word]

No clue where I got this idea. Maybe extending from scorching old boxes. Thanks.

Vintage books...cut paste and drop into the one you read... probably.

I was always lead to believe bees liked to set up camp in a smokey place...
chimney pot etc

 

[madasafish]

I thought it was best to scorch the inside of new boxes with a blowlamp? Which helps to seal the surface and reduce the new wood smell which bees dislike.

Sounds like these researchers scratched up the bare new boxes. Can I leave this step out?

Ty it on poly hives...

 

[Finman]

.
I have read about bait hives , that bees are not fond of aroma of new wood board.

 

[Murox]

.
I have read about bait hives , that bees are not fond of aroma of new wood board.

Me too. New wood, fumes of paint and of course the heady aroma of formaldehyde thats used in many glues. In respect of plain new wood I always let it sit outside but under cover for a few weeks before use.

 

[Finman]

fumes of paint and of course the heady aroma of formaldehyde thats used in many glues. .

It means aroma of wood, not chemicals....?