My take away from Marla's presentation was that the bees don't
propolized smooth wood simply because it's harder for them to do such a
thing.  However, I was in a discussion with Dr. Tarpy of NCSU about
propolis and hive health at a recent bee breeding clinic.  I was
interested to know if the proplois producing trait could be breed into
bees since it seems that propolis has benefits for the colony's health.
He said that he didn't see why not since we've effectively been breeding
it out of them.  He mentioned that AM Caucasian are known to be heavy
producers of propolis.  That they will even propolize the entire
entrance to their hives except for a small hole big enough for one bee
to fit through.

Bob Cole presented a video at our most recent club meeting and he shared
a technique that's popular for harvesting propolis in another country,
though I don't recall which one.  The side of the hive is made with
removable slats.  They start by removing the bottom one first.  The bees
propolize that.  Then they remove the next slat, and on up the side.
Until the entire side of the hive is propolis.  Then they break it out
and reinsert the slats.

I heard recently that one young man came over from Germany and was
working with American researchers.  He used the techniques they use back
home to try and get the bees to produce propolis.  He was not successful
with the bees here and couldn't understand why.

-- 
Jon Molesa
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http://www.beekeeping.cc

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