6 BEES-WAX AND ITS ECONOMICAL USES. 



together in the form of a bunch of grapes, by which a. 

 certain amount of order is observed. The bees do not 

 hang irregularly one upon the other by the booklets of 

 their feet, but the whole bunch is formed by the bees 

 holding together in the form of a chain. The great heat 

 generated in the cluster of bees facilitates the separation 

 of the wax from their bodies (fig. 1). 



Newly-built combs vary in colour from a light yellow 

 to an orange red. It is remarkable that a light yellow 

 wax comes from dark kinds of honey like, for instance, 

 heather honey, and a dark orange red wax from white 

 honey, as, for example, vetch honey. 



This circumstance, which Mons. de Layens, a well- 

 known bee-keeper and author in France was the first to 

 notice, led this sagacious inquirer to think that the 

 colouring of the wax was probably due to pollen, 

 and this was chemically proved to be the case by Dr. A. 

 Von Planta, the famous Swiss chemist. 



Beeswax consists of two different substances. It is 

 a mixture of cerotic acid (cerin), which is soluble in 

 alcohol, and of myricine, which is only slightly soluble in 

 alcohol. Besides these constituents beeswax contains 

 organic colouring matter, also other organic matters, 

 which can be separated in the purifying. The colouring 

 matter is best removed by bleaching in clear sunshine. 

 Chemically pure wax is, when white, colourless and 

 tasteless, and in thin scales is very transparent, shows 

 a splintery fracture, and at 20C. assumes that peculiar 

 kneadable condition which is qualified by the descrip- 

 tion of being ' wax-like.' The melting point of wax 

 is very high, between 63 and 64C., and this is 

 a good means of recognising the genuineness of the 

 production, together with the specific gravity, which 

 lies between 0-965 and O969. 



The elaboration of wax not only makes great claims 

 on the vital powers of the bees, but also costs them, as 

 well as the bee-keeper, much honey. It has been calcu- 

 lated that for one pound of wax, from ten to fifteen 

 pounds of honey are required, without counting the loss 

 of time caused in the building. Von Berlepsch makes 



