When the weather turns warm, propolis can string into fragrant tendrils like fresh-from-the-oven mozzarella cheese. When cold, it can shatter like bone china, yielding knife-sharp shards. In especially hot seasons, it can run like water down the inside of hive walls before hardening into translucent droplets that glisten like gemstones. As fascinating as propolis is, […] Read more
The message seems clear: “Thank you for taking such good care of us!” Debbie Fyda, a beekeeper in Ohio, received this adorable message of bee love from one of her colonies. She writes, “I opened the one hive and the bees were propolizing the double screen and this is what they did! Pretty neat! I […] Read more
A honey bee is not a resin bee, at least not by definition. But if you compare the behavior of honey bees and resin bees, you will find uncanny similarities. I was a beekeeper for many years before I began to understand bees. Insight finally came, but not from studying honey bees. Only when I […] Read more
Someday I’m going to quit beekeeping so I can have clothes without propolis. I’m serious. Luckily, clothes have never been very important to me—jeans and a tee and I’m good to go. But once in awhile I’d like them to be clean enough so people in the shops wouldn’t squint at me and try to […] Read more
I am pleased to share another photo from Louisiana beekeeper Robert Lunsford who, earlier this year, sent awesome images of chimney bees. Today’s photo shows a honey bee fanning in front of her hive while carrying a full load of propolis. I love the way the light glows through the big, gooey drops. Better still […] Read more
It doesn’t take long to discover that brood combs can turn dark as night after just one season while honey combs stay light for many years. What causes this difference? Several reasons are usually given for this phenomenon, but in truth, it is probably a combination of all them that causes brood comb to darken […] Read more
I hate to spend time re-inventing the wheel, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Whenever I take pictures for this blog, I always end up getting propolis stuck to my camera. I’ve tried wearing gloves or not, tried wrapping plastic bags around my camera, and tried cleaning my hands between shots. Nothing works. When […] Read more