Wikipedia mentions some surprising facts - a hive cn have as much as one pound of propolis kept on reserve for emergency patches to keep intruders out, or for mummifying an intruder who dies in the hive and is too big to move out.
Propolis properties may include:
- reinforce the structural stability and provide thermal insulation to the hive
- reduce vibration
- make the hive more defensible by narrowing the existing entrance (in wild colonies) to a single "choke point"
- make the hive more defensible by sealing holes: a hive will have a propolis cache (as much as one pound!) for emergency patch jobs
- prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive, and to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth.
- mitigate putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However, if a small lizard or mouse, for example, finds its way into the hive and dies there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless.
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