>Scott Mitchell wrote (in part):
>
> I
>>wanted to comment on my hives in Va.  Early in the fall I saw curtains of
>>Propolis being drawn to cover the entrance.
>
Adrian M. Wenner reply:

>   In our studies of feral bee colonies on Santa Cruz Island, we frequently
>had the same observation --- not just a curtain, but a wall of propolis
>(with vertical ribs on the inside surface) --- so that the entrance was
>nearly sealed.

It seems that this observation has been made a very long time ago, since
the very name of this matter results from this special feature : the name
propolis comes from the Greek "pro" (ahead) and "polis" (the city) : matter
that bees put ahead the city.

Jean-Marie Van Dyck
Namur (Belgium)