406 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 25, 



It has frequently been asserted that beeswax is often 

 adulterated with such substances as brick-meal, pea-meal, 

 'heavy spar, sypsum, kaolin, chrome yellow, litharge, yellow 

 ochre and sulphur. The writer had come to the conclusion 

 that the days of such gross sophistications had passed away, 

 but the examination of several samples lately convinced him 

 that this nefarious business had again been awakened from 

 the slumber-room of time, if it has been asleep. 



Inorganic substances are chiefly added to weight the wax- 

 A few, like chrome yellow, litharge and yellow ochre, are 

 added to give color as well as weight. These adulterants can 

 occasionally be detected by scraping the wax on the side cor- 

 responding to the bottom of the vessel in which the wax was 

 molded. On examining the freshly cut surface with a hand- 

 lens, or even with the naked eye, minute particles of the for- 

 eign substances are revealed. They may also be detected by 

 melting the wax and cooling slowly, whereby these heavy sub- 

 stances separate and settle to the bottom. 



We will now briefly consider the properties of waxes and 

 wax-like substances used as substitutes for and adulterants of 

 beeswax. 



SUBSTANCES USED AS BEESWAX ADULTERANTS. 



Artificial Wax. — A patent has been granted in France 

 for manufacturing a wax consisting of two parts of resin and 

 one part of paraffin melted together. An alternative process 

 consists in extracting three partsof resin and one part of soap, 

 or stearic acid, or vegetable wax, with potash. 



One of our pharmaceutical editors, in commenting on the 

 debased condition of beeswax in London, supposes that none 

 of his readers will find artificial beeswax in this country. How 

 fortunate if such were the case. The writer with reluctance 

 announces that he has in his possession two samples of wax 

 that are decided infringements on the bees' rights, to the ex- 

 tent of at least 300 pounds. This wax has never been near 

 an apiary. It consists entirely of resin and paraffin, colored 

 with chrome yellow. 



Carnauba or Brazil Wax. — This is a secretion of the 

 carnauba palm-tree which grows along the rivers of Brazil. 

 The wax has a dirty, grayish yellow to greenish color, is taste- 

 less, hard and brittle. When fresh it has the odor of new- 

 mown hay, but later it becomes inodorous. It is seldom used 

 as an adulterant of beeswax at the present time. 



Ceresin or Cerite. — Ceresin is also called artificial wax. 

 This substance in the crude state is known by various names — 

 as mineral wax, earth wax and ozokerite. Probably no other 

 single substance is so extensively employed in adulterating 

 beeswax as ceresin. None is more easily detected. It varies 

 in color, according to the method of purification, from a white 

 to a yellow or brown. Not infrequently gamboge, turmeric, 

 dragon's-blood, or one of the various analine dyes, soluble in 

 fats, are employed to produce a desirable tint. According to the 

 degree of purity, ozokerite often has an agreeable wax-like 

 odor. The consistency of ceresin varies from soft and pliable 

 to hard and brittle, the latter showing a conchoidal fracture on 

 breaking. The general term " paraffin" frequently includes 

 ceresin. 



Chinese Wax. — This is known as China wax, China vege- 

 table wax, insect wax, insect white wax, pela wax, tree wax 

 and vegetable spermaceti. As several of the names imply, 

 China wax is distinctly the secretion of an insect. It is a se- 

 cretion from the body of the female and young insects growing 

 on trees in China. As the insects develop, the surface of the 

 branches gradually becomes coated with a white substance, or 

 the wax crust in which these little organisms become imbed- 

 ded. The wax is of a white or slightly yellowish color, odor- 

 less, tasteless, lustrous, crystalline, hard and brittle. 



Japan Wax.^ — China wax is frequently confused with 

 Japan wax. The latter is distinctly a vegetable wax, while 

 the former is an insect secretion. The melting points also 

 differ greatly. Japan wax has a somewhat resinous, tallowy, 

 rancid odor and taste ; is also quite hard and brittle. It is 

 largely used in this country. 



Paraffin or Paraffin-Wax. — This is a solid, white 

 translucent substance resembling wax. It is prepared by dis- 

 tilling the residuum obtained in the preparation of petroleum. 

 The distillate is collected and purified for the market. It was 

 formerly obtained from ozokerite, and in the destructive distil- 

 lation of shale, etc. Paraffin is a generic name and properly 

 includes ceresin. It is very extensively used in adulterating 

 beeswax, but is very readily detected. 



Rosin. — Common rosin or colophony is the residuum left 

 after distilling off the volatile oil from crude turpentine. Rosin 

 is a transparent or translucent resin having a faint terebin- 

 thinate odor, and is nearly tasteless, but some varieties have a 



nauseous and highly characteristic aftertaste. It varies in 

 color from pale amber to a dark reddish brown, and is very 

 brittle. 



Stearic Acid. — This is prepared by treating tallow with 

 caustic soda or potash, decomposing the resulting soap with a 

 dilute acid and purifying the resulting fatty acid. The com- 

 mercial product is commonly known as "stearino" and is 

 really a mi.\ture of stearic and palmitic acids. Its quality va- 

 ries greatly. The color is white to yellowish white. It has 

 been used as an adulterant of beeswax on several occasions. 



Tallow. — Is a time-honored adulterant of beeswax and 

 does not need any comments here as it is very little used now. 



Vegetable Wax. — This name, which formerly included 

 palm, carnauba, myrtle and Japan waxes, is now used to sig- 

 nify a kind of wax produced in India. 



methods of detecting adulterated beeswax. 



We will now briefly consider the methods employed in de- 

 tecting adulterated beeswax. The methods used for detecting 

 the presence of weighting substances has been spoken of 

 above. Pure beeswax has either a straight or convex upper 

 surface, never a concave surface. A concave surface indicates 

 the presence of ceresin or allied bodies. When pure beeswax 

 is melted in a smooth, flat-bottomed, shallow vessel and al- 

 lowed to congeal the wax invariably shrinks awa.y from the 

 sides of the vessel. Ceresin and allied products will not do 

 this. A wax containing a small per cent, of ceresin will 

 shrink away, while a large per cent, prevents thi! phenome- 

 non. A beeswax containing an appreciable amount of paraffin 

 can be readily masticated. Beeswax always becomes brittle 

 when chewed. 



Having examined the wax externally the specific gravity 

 is next ascertained. The writer has found the following the 

 most satisfactory and expeditious method : 



Melt a sample of the wax in a small vessel and pour the 

 wax upon a moist plate in such a manner as to form little pel- 

 lets of wax. Allow these pellets to cool thoroughly. In a cyl- 

 indrical vessel make a mixture of one part of alcohol and two 

 parts of water. Allow the air bubbles to escape, then add the 

 pellets of wax to the mixture. If they rise add more alcohol ; 

 if they sink add more water. Continue this until l^e wax 

 floats indifferently in the liquid. The speciflc gravity of the 

 liquid now corresponds to that of the wax and can easily be as- 

 certained by a specific gravity spindle or a specific gravity bot- 

 tle. In case the specific gravity bottle is employed, the deter- 

 mination must be made at 153 c. The specific gravity of 

 beeswax at 15- C. is about 0.960. 



The melting point is a telling factor in the analysis of 

 beeswax and is easily obtained as follows : 



Dip the bulb of the thermometer into the sample of bees- 

 wax an instant ; on removing and cooling, the bulb will be 

 covered with a fine film of the beeswax. Introduce the ther- 

 mometer into a large test-tube, through its perforated stopple. 

 The stopple must have a second perforation or other device 

 for equalizing the pressure. The test-tube is now introduced 

 into warm water, the temperature and the film carefully 

 watched, and the instant a hanging drop is formed, the tem- 

 perature noted and the melting point recorded. 



The acid and the ether numbers are valuable factors in 

 the analysis of beeswax. The process of the acid number is 

 as follows : 



Heat 3 or 4 grams of the wax with 20 cubic centimeters 

 of neutral 95 per cent, alcohol ; while hot titrate with a semi- 

 normal alcoholic solution of potash, using phenolphthalein as 

 indicator. 



^ For estimating the ether number, add 20 cubic centime- 

 ters more of the alkaline solution, and saponify by boiling the 

 solution briskly in a reflux condenser for one hour, then titrate 

 back the excess of alkaline solution with a semi-normal acid. 

 The number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to 

 saturate the free acids of one grain of wax is called the " acid 

 number." The number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide 

 required to decompose the wax ethers of one gram of the wax 

 is called the " ether number." The acid number varies from 

 19 to 2 1, while the ether number varies from 73 to 76. 



Scientific investigation has made it possible to prepare a 

 mixture that will comply to the constants of beeswax in all of 

 the above tests. For this reason it is necessary to resort to 

 several specific tests, which will eliminate the substances that 

 can be so employed. 



StAMrm acid can readily be detected by Febling's process, 

 which will indicate the presence of one per cent, of this sub- 

 stance, and is executed thus: Boil one grain of the wax to be 

 tested with 10 cubic centimeters of 80 per cent, alcohol, for a 

 few minutes; cool to 18 or 20^ C, filter; to the filtrate add 



