I can instrumentally Inseminate any virgin queen. However most of my queens are breed by local drones, the dca.
F1 is a daughter or son
F2 a grandson or grand daughter
F3 great great grand daughter/son
With livestock, the parental linage may go back 20-60 generations, Much easier to say F60 generation than great great 59 times.
My F1 is already watered down because she is open mated, so the term F1 is not correct if you see it from the point of a queen breeder.
To call the terms you need controlled open mating or artificial insemination.
Because of that I don?t use F2, F3 or such in public. If I were surrounded by ferals or had have the opportunity to flood the area with my own drones the term would be more accurate, but not as a term to tell anyone.
I use this as numbers on my hive lids though, to know about the queens.
About propolis:
There is some research about hive interiour climate, done by Torben Schiffer. He measured the humidity, for example, and found that steam can go through propolis, but condensation cannot drop back.
Plus, the bees change ventilation to their advantage, there had been bees reducing the entrance or close up ventilation openings by propolising it. In winter they are not able to close up the hive again after you took off boxes, like they do all season long. They can?t forage for propolis and can?t work it to make it smooth. A drafty hive is not a ventilated hive. I would rather leave the decisions to the bees if I could.
Beekeeping is all about location. Stinger13, I understand perfectly about your locale. It?s always better to purchase bee stock which is adapted to such a local situation.
My own 3 places are totally different though they are only 20km apart.
More shady, more sunny, more dry, more humid, neighborhood bees, flow, water source, sea level, wind protection, predators,....
You cannot follow advise without considering this, but every information you get from others is helpful.
It needs years to build up your own experience and still you are surprised often by what?s happening. There are places where bees should not be placed, they never thrive.