On 4 Sep, 13, at 11:37 AM, randy oliver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> bees can often thrive on old, dark combs.

It is often mentioned that the comb is a "sink" for a variety of substances. I have long thought that the bees incorporate propolis into the comb. 

Last month I asked Marla Spivak about that and she said she thought no, it's too strong and would be harmful to the brood, so they only put it on the wood. 

However, my research led me to work showing that comb may indeed contain propolis

Propolis exhibits
antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity.
Comb samples were collected from A. mellifera
carnica (Pollm.) colonies from the Zoological
Institute at the University of Wurzburg. The
comb samples had not been used for storage of
nectar and pollen or for brood

CONCLUSIONS

In this work Raman spectroscopic investigations
of the spatial distribution and chemical composition
of wax and propolis in the comb of A. mellifera
carnica (Pollm.) were performed. It was
shown that propolis is used not only as a sealer
for the hive and to disinfect the internal walls of
the comb cells, but it is also found at the rim of the
comb cells in a thick layer. 

Strehle, M. A., Jenke, F., Fröhlich, B., Tautz, J., Riederer, M., Kiefer, W., & Popp, J. (2003). Raman spectroscopic study of spatial distribution of propolis in comb of Apis mellifera carnica (Pollm.). Biopolymers, 72(4), 217-224.
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