Propolis season. Normally, it is dark brown in color, but it can be found in green, red, black, and white hues, depending on the sources of resin found in the particular hive area. Honey bees are opportunists, gathering what they need from available sources, and detailed analyses show that the chemical composition of propolis varies considerably from region to region, along with the vegetation. In northern temperate climates, for example, bees collect resins from trees, such as poplars and conifers (the biological role of resin in trees is to seal wounds and defend against bacteria, fungi and insects). "Typical" northern temperate
Animal glue Tang Dynasty. Records indicate that one of the essential components of lampblack ink was proteinaceous glue. Ox glue and stag-horn glues bound particles of pigments together, acting as a preservative by forming a film over the surface as the ink dried. The Chinese, such as Kao Gong Ji, also researched glue for medicinal purposes. The use of animal glue, as well as some other types of glues, largely vanished in Europe after the decline of the Western Roman Empire until the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, when wooden furniture started to surge as a major craft. During the medieval ages, fish