LindenNora · Uppsala, SE · Beginners · Sep 19, 2026
Should I scrape all the propolis off before winter or leave it — the bees put it there on purpose, right?
Third year in Uppsala, three hives, and everything is glued. Crown boards need a hive tool at every corner, the frame lugs are welded to the runners, one colony has narrowed its own entrance with a propolis wall, and another has sealed every gap around the mesh floor tray.
My instinct says leave it. It's their draught-proofing and it's antimicrobial, and if I scrape it off in September they'll just spend resources putting it back when they should be clustering. But a veteran at the club says scrape everything now, because in spring the boxes won't come apart cleanly and I'll tear the crown board.
Is there a sensible middle ground — scrape where it fights me and leave the rest? And is autumn even the right time, or is this a spring job?
#propolis#winter-prep#hive-hygiene
▲ 1 votes
💬 1 replies
muglabalci · Sep 19, 2026
Your instinct is right and so is the middle ground. I scrape only where it fights me — frame runners and box rims, so inspections are possible — and I leave everything the bees built on purpose: the entrance wall, the seals around the floor and the crown board edges. That is their wind seal for winter. And autumn is the wrong time to scrape anyway: propolis is soft and gummy in warm weather and comes off in smears. On a cold spring morning it is brittle and snaps off clean. Every scraping goes in a jar for tincture.
Brood nest honey-bound in September, queen down to two frames — normal before winter or do I open it up?
Second year in Vermont, three hives, all in double deeps, and the goldenrod and aster are still coming in. Yesterday's inspection of hive 1 scared me a bit. The top deep …
VTBeeHannah · Vermont, US · Beginners · Sep 16, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 3 · ✅ Solved
Bees stopped taking 2:1 syrup after one week but the hive still hefts light — switch to fondant already?
First year in Yorkshire, one National colony from a June nuc. I started 2:1 (2 kg sugar to 1 litre water, warmed not boiled) in a rapid feeder on the 1st of September and…
YorkshireNewbee · Yorkshire, UK · Beginners · Sep 14, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4
Started feeding syrup yesterday and robbing broke out within an hour — how do I feed without triggering it again?
Second year in İzmir with three hives, and yesterday was awful. The hills are bone dry, nothing has flowered since July, and my smallest colony was light, so I made 2:1 a…
elif_arici · İzmir, TR · Beginners · Sep 9, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4
Join 12,000+ beekeepers logging hives, asking questions, and mapping forage.
Get the Beekeeping Community app