In simple words, propolis is bees’ own medicine. It is made of various resins collected by the honeybees from plants – particularly from flowers, leaf buds and the bark of trees.

Other names

The usually brown substance is also called bee glue. But note, it is not the same as bees wax.

Beeswax is secreted by bees while the chemically complex propolis is collected by bees from trees.

Picture Credit Martin

A populous colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees during the late spring or early summer. Propolis keeps the hive strong and sterile.

What is it used for ?

Bees use the versatile resin for :-

• Sealing cracks and as natural cement to hold their home.
• Keeping themselves and their hives bacteria-free, and
• Coating invaders.

Sealing and strengthening hives

As propolis is sticky in warm weather, bees use it as a form of glue to seal cracks or hold the hive structure together.

Some African tribes are also using propolis in the similar way – to water-proof their water containers and seal cracks in their boats.

Keeping the colony bacteria-free

Living in a hive is like living in a super-busy apartment building, and sharing it with other 50,000 living beings. It’s like making a crowded Tokyo subway your home.

But because propolis is used as the cement of the congested space, as bees squeeze themselves into or out of the hive, they will brush their body against the wall and propolis.

This daily contact with propolis helps reduce bacterial and viral infection from spreading in their congested home. Without some kind of natural antibiotics protection, the whole colony would be dead.

Coating Intruders

If a rodent like a rat enters the hive, bees will sting it to death and coat the carcass with propolis.

Because it cannot carry the carcass away from its’ hive, bees need a way to sterile the dead body. By embalming the body with an antiseptic shell, the carcass will remain in the hive. But it will not rot or spread an epidemic in the congested space.