Propolis trap yields per hive — my Istrian numbers this season, plus the freezer snap and how I store it
Pulled the propolis mats off all twelve hives in Istria this week, the end of a season that started in early June. Method, for anyone curious: plastic mesh trap mats under the roof in place of the crown board, with a gap at the edge so light and draught encourage the bees to fill the mesh; mats into the freezer overnight, then flex and roll them over a tray and the propolis shatters off in clean crumbs.
Yields: 40 to 120 g per hive over the whole summer, average about 75 g, and two colonies that gave less than 20 g and clearly just aren't propolisers. Roughly 900 g total, which is the most I've ever had.
Storage: I sieve out the wax flakes and bee bits, then it goes in sealed jars in the freezer, dark. Selling some to a local herbalist for tincture and keeping the rest.
What do the rest of you get per hive? And does anyone wash it, or is that a bad idea?
#propolis#propolis-trap#hive-products#harvest
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4 replies
PropolisRafa · Sep 12, 2026
Very different picture here in Minas Gerais, where propolis is the main product and spring is just starting. Our green propolis comes from alecrim-do-campo (Baccharis dracunculifolia), and colonies selected for it give several hundred grams a year each, harvested every few weeks through the season rather than once. Unselected colonies give far less, like your two lazy ones. Never wash it — it takes days to dry and it clumps. Freeze, sieve, store cold and dark, exactly as you do.
muglabalci · Sep 12, 2026
In Muğla I get around 100 g per hive per season from the mats, similar to yours, so your numbers are good for European bees. Storage in the freezer is right; propolis keeps for years if it stays cool and out of the light. My only addition: keep the darker, harder crumbs from the mat separate from the soft scrapings off frames and boxes — the mat propolis is the clean grade and sells for more.
MieleMarco · Sep 12, 2026
Tuscan yields are close to yours too, IstriaBee, 60-100 g. The two non-propolisers: if you raise your own queens, that's a trait worth noting, because propolis collection is strongly heritable. I've selected my breeder lines partly on it for years and my mats fill noticeably faster than they did a decade ago. Do not wash it, as PropolisRafa says.
IstriaBee · Sep 13, 2026
Noted on the not washing — the crumbs are going straight from sieve to jar. And MieleMarco, I do raise a few queens, so the propoliser note goes in the breeding book. PropolisRafa, several hundred grams a colony is a whole different business, respect to Brazilian bees.