Editing Worker bee (section)

=== Propolizing ===
The walls of the hive are covered with a thin coating of [[propolis]], a resinous substance obtained from plants. When workers add enzymes to the propolis, the combination has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Propolis is placed at the entrance of hives to aid in ventilation.

Some bees add excess mud to the mixture, making it geopropolis, such as in the bee ''[[Melipona scutellaris]].''<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Chemical Changes Associated with the Invasion of a Melipona scutellaris Colony by Melipona rufiventris Workers|last = Adriana|first = Pianaro|date = 2007|journal = Journal of Chemical Ecology|volume = 33|issue = 5|pages = 971–984|doi = 10.1007/s10886-007-9274-5 |pmid = 17404819| bibcode=2007JCEco..33..971P |s2cid = 32195400}}</ref> Geopropolis displays antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity and has been proven to be a source of antibiofilm agents. It also presents selectivity against human cancer cell lines at low concentrations compared to normal cells.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of stingless bee Melipona scutellaris geopropolis|url= |journal = BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine|date = 2013-01-28|issn = 1472-6882|pmc = 3568042|pmid = 23356696|pages = 23|volume = 13|issue = 1|doi = 10.1186/1472-6882-13-23|first1 = Marcos Guilherme da|last1 = Cunha|first2 = Marcelo|last2 = Franchin|first3 = LíviaCâmaradeCarvalho|last3 = Galvão|first4 = AnaLúciaTascaGóis de|last4 = Ruiz|first5 = João Ernesto de|last5 = Carvalho|first6 = Masarahu|last6 = Ikegaki|first7 = Severino Matias de|last7 = Alencar|first8 = Hyun|last8 = Koo|first9 = Pedro Luiz|last9 = Rosalen|doi-access= free}}</ref>