352 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1, 



of It; and the purer the better. Do you think 

 the air of a cellar averages as pure as that 

 outdoors? Do you think a person who lives 

 in a cellar is as strong and healthy as one living 

 outdoors, even supposing one had the same 

 light as the other? 



I believe it is a well-known fact, although not 

 so universally known as it should be, that, in a 

 room where the air is close and impure, the 

 thermometer must stand higher to keep the 

 human occupants warm than in a room with 

 fresh pure air. Is it not reasonable to suppose 

 it may be the same way with the bees ? 



I'll tell you one thing that I have already 

 mentioned, and I have noticed it many times. 

 Along toward spring there come warm spells 

 when the air outdoors is as warm as or warmer 

 than it is in the cellar. The bees become very 

 uneasy and noisy. At night I open up doors and 

 windows, letting in a flood of fresh air. The 

 noise in the cellar increases threefold; but by 

 morning all is quiet, and sometimes the full 

 light may stream in on the hives through the 

 forenoon without their stirring out. It isn't 

 because they are cooled off, for the thermometer 

 in the cellar has gone up. Moreover, I have 

 sometimes accomplished the same purpose by 

 putting a fire in the cellar. You see, in the cold 

 weather the heavy cold air from the outside 

 forces its way in; but when the air in the cellar 

 Is as cold as or colder than outdoors, then venti- 

 lation stops, and the air becomes foul. The point 

 is, that the bees are uncomfortable, and hence 

 inclined to disease when the air in the cellar is 

 more impure than usual. 



Now, I don't know that the impure air is the 

 whole reason why bees in the cellar must be 

 kept warmer than outdoors; but I suspect it has 

 much to do with it, and I'm ready for any light 

 that comes. 



The moss you speak of is, I suppose,sphagnum 

 or nurseryman's moss, and is highly esteemed 

 in Germany. I think you will like it. 



Marengo, 111. 



WAX. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE I'lUNCIPAL KINDS, AND 



THE USES TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLIED; 



SUBSTITUTES FOR BEESWAX. 



By Karl Budolpli, Mathcy. 



[In presenting the following papers on the 

 subject of wax, we believe we are giving our 

 readers much of value and interest. The au- 

 thor, Mr. Mathey, who is now one of the staff" 

 of workers here at the Home of the Honey- 

 bees, has written considerable for our columns 

 during the last year or two. He has paid par- 

 ticular attention to the subject of wax, and ap- 

 pears to be unusually well informed in regard 

 to it. He has quite a nice little library devoted 

 to that subject, all in German, as that is the 

 only language he uses here, and the one in 

 which he writes his articles. The interest be- 

 longing to the subject will increase as the arti- 

 cles appear.— Ed.] 



Honey and wax— two natural products which, 

 in their pure state, are obtainable from bees 

 only — have, from the earliest dawn of human 

 history, played a role of the highest importance 

 inhuman economy. The Bible mentions milk 

 and honey as typical of all earthly blessings. 

 The Greeks and Romans flavored their wine 

 with honey ; the ancient Germans prepared 

 their intoxicating mead from it; and in a time 

 when men had neither sugar nor syrup, honey 

 served exclusively as a sweet for their food and 

 drinks. 



Wax, on the other hand, was the only illumi- 

 nating material for God's house and for pal- 

 aces; and it found special application for phar- 

 maceutical purposes; and for thousands of years 

 the product of the bee had no competitor. 



But now this is all different. A whole list of 

 fats, partly from the animal kingdom, partly 

 from the vegetable kingdom, and some (at least 

 apparently) coming from the mineral kingdom, 

 are, with the help of modern science, chemis- 

 try, and other adequate agencies, so manipulat- 

 ed as to resemble pure beeswax to such an ex- 

 tent as to be very deceptive. Yea, so well is 

 this work done, that, for certain practical pur- 

 poses, such as illumination, etc., the compound 

 may be considered as perfect. 



As these species of artificial wax, such as cer- 

 esin, paraflfine, ozokerite, and all such mention- 

 able products of human manufacture, can be, 

 for the most part, furnished at an insignificant 

 price, it follows, as a natural consequence, that 

 pure beeswax must become greatly depressed in 

 price to meet the price of the others. We get 

 now hardly as much money for two pounds of 

 beeswax as we formerly did for one. 



Wax was already known in the earliest an- 

 tiquity. The Greeks and Phenicians were ac- 

 quainted with its use, and knew how to bleach 

 it. Pliny called white wax " cera Punica " 

 (Phenician wax); he describes the framework 

 upon which the sheets were laid to bleach; and 

 he even describes the cloths with which the 

 frames were protected and the wax covered 

 during unfavorable weather. 



In the time of Dioscoroides, sheeted wax was 

 known. The bottom of a pot was first dipped 

 in cold water and then in melted wax; or a 

 globe, likewise moistened, was dipped in wax. 

 The sheets, or films, when removed, were strung 

 on threads so they would not touch each other; 

 and after copious washings they were set in the 

 sun. At that time, illuminating material pre- 

 pared from pure beeswax brought a high price. 

 It was used in divine worship, and its consump- 

 tion increased in proportion to the spread of 

 Christianity. Even to-day the Mohammedans 

 use wax tapers in their mosques. I saw such 

 in the Aya Sophia, in Constantinople, at the 

 right and left of the mimrab (prayer-niche), 

 each taper being about 19 inches thick and 13 

 feet long. A similar one was in the mosque of 

 the Sultan Achmet. 



