Propolis Screens

[peteinwilts]

Hi Guys

Has anyone used and had success with propolis screens?

I bought couple in the sales and hope to have a play this year.

I have read Autumn is the time to put them on. Does anyone have an opinion on this. Autumn is thymol treatment time, and doesn't seem right trying to do both at the same time.

I have read it should be popped under the crown board and also read the crown board should be removed.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Pete

 

[PBee]

I got some screens last year but didn't get around to using them. From what I remember reading at the time the commercial propolis harvesters put on the screen and then place a long piece of wood over it to keep the roof up on one side and let in some light and air. The principle behind the late summer use is the onset of winter increases the desire to close the gaps which I suppose makes sense. If you are really getting into it some Cecropia queens might be an idea.

 

[Neils]

I just put them under the crownboard at the end of the season after the thymol treatment as an experiment. All the colonies I tried them on propolised them though some more so than others. You do tend to end up with a fair bit of propolis on the top bars too.

A week is plenty enough time for them to get filled, two if you rotate them 90 degrees after the first week for maximum coverage.

I might try one in the spring as the colony builds up just to see what happens, but if suspect that at a point where they'd cover the whole screen you'd be wanting to get a super on so might also try one on a super just to see what happens.

 

[Into the lions den]

If you are really getting into it some Cecropia queens might be an idea.

Caucasians.

You dont even need a screen, you can cut the stuff away in chunks from the bees own attempts to reduce the hive entrance.

As for screens, some times of the year they do propolise them corectly, other times they use wax, or a wax propolis mix. Probably varies according to location.

In our various areas propolis comes in several colour variants from a reddish chestnut colour, through the normal dull olive green, to a pale butterscotch shade, dependant on location and time of year, so probably owes its variability to the plant sources it is being gathered from. Smell varies too. To MY tastes they are all horrible to eat, but some visitors will happily eat it and pronounce it lovely.

 

[dclewis]

I put them on over the top super on each hive so they are on only whilst the supers are on. Then a good old matchstick so there's a small draft up through the hive and the bees will fill up the gaps in the grill. Yes I am on OMF's so they don't need the draft but it encourages then to plug the holes! Screens are never on during any varroa treatment.

 

[peteinwilts]

MY tastes they are all horrible to eat, but some visitors will happily eat it and pronounce it lovely.

The proplis I scrape off my 'gluey' bees is red\chestnut coloured. It is not particularly nice, and when you start chewing it, it is not easiy to get it out of your teeth (like an unpleasent sticky toffee)

My sister is extremely interested in trying some.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will try it when (if!) it gets a bit warmer..

 

[MartinL]

Got two,

Never used them!

 

[Shabro]

used screens and collected propolis last year, now no idea what to do with it, I put some in a bottle of whisky and it's ruined that!

 

[dclewis]

I put my grills in the freezer for a couple of days then crack off the propolis from the plastic. Sort through your harvest to remove bits of bee and any other rubbish that might of got stuck in the propolis. Then zap in a coffee bean blender attachment to the liquidizer. Add 60 g of the resulting fine propolis powder to 120ml of 70% alcohol, leave in dark and shake daily for 3 weeks and then separate off the liquid and I get about 100ml of propolis tincture. Small market for it here but every year it grows a bit more.

 

[dpearce4]

Thanks for that recipe dclewis really helpful. i did wonder how to do that.

 

[PBee]

Caucasians.

Correct - and probably easier to source. According to the good book though, some cecropia are also known for their liberal use of propolis ..... 'the Greek closely resembles the Anatolian and Caucasian, especially in her excessive use of propolis and construction of brace comb' ..... Adam 2:176*

*In Search of the Best Strains of Bees.

=dclewis;312414 ...... Add 60 g of the resulting fine propolis powder to 120ml of 70% alcohol, leave in dark and shake daily for 3 weeks and then separate off the liquid and I get about 100ml of propolis tincture. Small market for it here but every year it grows a bit more.

If you are using pure ethanol you may be adding too high a proportion of propolis to achieve complete extraction ....

The initial concentration of propolis to be extracted should not exceed 30%, due to less efficient or less complete extraction at higher concentrations. The correct quantity of propolis is weighed and the right volume of alcohol measured. It would be easier to weigh the correct quantity of alcohol since alcohol is much lighter than water. The specific gravity of pure ethanol is 0.794 as compared to 1.00 for water. For reasons of simplicity one can assume that one litre of 100 % alcohol weighs 800 g, 11 of 70% alcohol approximately 860 g, 11 of 50% alcohol approximately 900 g, and so on. Other alcohols and solvents have different specific gravities and quantity measures will vary accordingly. Therefore, weighing both the propolis and the solvent is the preferred method.

Quote is from the FAO booklet 'Value Added Products from Beekeeping' - has a very comprehensive section on the collection and preparation of propolis. http://www.fao.org/docrep/w0076e/w0076e14.htm

It includes a design for a propolis collecting board where a smaller proportion of the area is used. This would appear to me to be a better set-up for dual/multi use colonies particularly in this climate.

 

[peterbees]

I've used them, with limited success. I suggest that autumn is too late to fit them. I would put them on in July, under the crown board. I've used the black mesh type and the rigid white plastic type, which were Langstroth size and had to be trimmed to fit a national hive.