THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



08 1 



arrangements are perfected, and if 

 persons wishing to attend tlie conven- 

 tion at Detroit on Dec. s. 9 and 10, 

 will write to Mr. W. Z. Ilntchinson, 

 Rogersville, Midi., tiiey will receive 

 by retnrn mail a certilicate to be lillcd 

 out by the railroad agent where they 

 procure their ticket ; and on their re- 

 turn home this certificate will entitle 

 them to a ticket by paying one-third 

 the regular fare. 



Now that all arrangements are so 

 nearly completed, let every one pre- 

 pare to come to Detroit, on Dec. 8, 9, 

 and 10, and make this meeting one 

 grand success ever to be rememhered 

 by every apiarist in the United States 

 and Canada. 



Clinton,? Mich. 



Selected. 



Ancient Opinions on Beeswax. 



FRANCIS RUBER, 1793. 



Since the time of Reaumur and De 

 Geer, whose works have inspired a 

 general taste tor entomology, great 

 advances have been made in this 

 science ; all its branches are extended, 

 and the history of bees, in particular, 

 has been enriched. Schirach and 

 lliem have opened a new path ; and, 

 perhaps, we have ourselves con- 

 tributed to clear it of tlie prejudices 

 which clogged its progress, by es- 

 tablishing the facts announced, in a 

 more rigorous manner. 



Some observations, also, have been 

 published in other countries, but so 

 inaccurately that they would sink 

 into oblivion did we not endeavor to 

 support them by facts. 



Naturalists have principally di- 

 rected their attention to wax, and 

 chemists likewise have attempted an 

 analysis of it. But the result of their 

 labors presents so little coincidence, 

 as to prove the insufficient discussion 

 of the subject and that it requires 

 new examination. 



When M. Bonnet wrote, it was the 

 general opinion that the pollen, 

 farina or dust of the stamina of 

 flowers, was converted into wax ; and 

 it is interesting to peruse his details 

 of its collection, the manner in which 

 the bees load themselves, and how 

 they store it up for preservation. All 

 these facts, and the utility of the 

 farina, had been scrupulously ob- 

 served by Reaumur, Maraldi, and 

 other learned men ; but is this sub- 

 stance truly the elementary principle 

 of wax V 



A Lnsation cultivator, whose name 

 has not reached us, observes, that 

 although it had been previously sup- 

 posed that wax is discharged from the 

 mouth, it actually comes from the 

 rings of the abdomen ; and that this 

 is evident by withdrawing a bee from 

 the cell where it works in wax, when 

 the wax in the form of scales appears 

 by the extension of the body. In the 

 year 1793, 1 was greatly astonished at 

 finding scales of a substance ana- 

 logous to it under the rings. They 

 exhibited its real characteristics on 

 being applied to the flame of a taper, 

 and I showed them to some of my 

 friends. 



Workers alone have the property of 

 secreting wax ; scales of it, ranged in 

 pairs, are contained in minute re- 

 ceptacles under the lower segments 

 of the abdomen, and situated to tlie 

 right and left of the angular projec- 

 tion. The conformation of the same 

 part of queens and males is very dif- 

 ferent, below the rings of which no 

 scales exist. 



Nothing but what is common to the 

 abdomen of wasps and many other 

 hymenoptera appears externally in 

 that of the bee, being half segments 

 partially covering each other. But 

 they are not flat below as in most 

 analogous insects, for the abdomen of 

 the bee is traversed by an angular 

 prominence. By gently drawing out 

 the abdomen, the concealed parts are 

 disclosed. 



What should be considered the base 

 of each ring, because it adheres to 

 the body of the insect, occupies at 

 least two-thirds of the segment, and 

 is of a yellowish white, soft, trans- 

 parent, membraneous substance. It 

 is divided into two by a small horny 

 prominence corresponding exactly 

 with the horny projection of the ab- 

 domen, and forms two areas bounded 

 by a solid edge on the surface of the 

 triembrane. The scales of wax are 

 deposited in these areas, and assume 

 the same conformation ; being of an 

 irregular pentagonal figure. Only 

 eight scales belong to eacn individual 

 bee, for the first and last ring, con- 

 stituted differently from the others, 

 afford none. Their size decreases 

 with the diameter of the rings w-here- 

 on they are molded ; the largest are 

 under the third, and the smallest 

 under the fifth. All are not alike in 

 evei-y bee, for a difference is per- 

 ceptible in consistence, shape and 

 thickness ; some are so thin and 

 transparent as to require a magnifier 

 to be recognized ; or I have been able 

 to discover nothing but speculre simi". 

 lar to those of water freezing. 



Neither the speculse nor scales rest 

 immediately on the membrane ; a 

 slight liquid medium is interposed, 

 serving to lubricate the junctures of 

 the rings, or to render the extraction 

 of the scales easier, as otherwise they 

 might adhere too firmly to the sides 

 of the receptacles. Finally, I have 

 seen the scales so large as to project 

 beyond the rings, being visible with 

 out stretching the segments, and of a 

 wliitish yellow from greater thickness 

 lessening their transparency. 



These shades of difference in the 

 scales of various bees, their enlarged 

 dimensions, the fluid interposed be- 

 neath them, the correspondence be- 

 tween the scale and the size and form 

 of the receptacles, seem to infer the 

 transudation of its substance through 

 the membranes whereon it is moulded. 



I was confirmed in this opinion by 

 the escape of a transparent fluid, on 

 piercing the membrane, whose inter- 

 nal surface seemed to be applied to 

 the soft part of the belly. It coagu- 

 lated in cooling, when it resembled 

 wax, and again liquified on exposure 

 to heat. The scales themselves also 

 melted and coagulated like wax. 



In prosecuting my experiments 

 further on the analogy of the two sub- 



stances,! found the following : 1. That 

 scales, thrown into spirits of turpen- 

 tine, dissolved and disappeared before 

 reaching the bottom of the vessel, 

 without rendering the fluid turbid. 

 But an equal quantity of the spirit 

 could neither dissolve some of the 

 whitest fragments of worked wax 

 taken from new combs so quickly nor 

 so entirely. Many particles remained 

 suspended among" it. 



2. Taking two vessels of sulphuric 

 ether, I appropriated one for scales 

 from the rings of bees, the other for 

 wax from their combs, equivalent in 

 weight to the scales. Scarcely had 

 fragments of wax touched the ether, 

 when they divided, and were pre- 

 cipitated in powder to the bottom of 

 the vessel ; but the scales were pre- 

 served entire, and only lost their 

 transparency, becoming a dull white. 

 No change ensued in either vessel 

 during several days. On evaporating 

 the ether from each, a thin stratum 

 of wax was found on the glass. 

 Frequent repetition of this experi- 

 ment presented the same result ; 

 fragments of the combs always were 

 reduced to powder ; the scales", on the 

 coutrary, were not broken down ; and 

 after the lapse of several months, only 

 a very small portion of them had been 

 dissolved by the ether. 



I thence concluded that the wax of 

 the rings was less compound, than 

 that made into cells, since the latter 

 dissolved in ether, while the former 

 remained entire, and as the one dis- 

 solved but partially in the spirits of 

 turpentine, whereas the other was 

 held in complete solution. 



If this substance lying under the 

 rings be truly the elements of wax, it 

 undergoes some preparation in leav- 

 ing its receptacles, and the bees are 

 capable of impregnating it with mat- 

 ter, imparting the whiteness and 

 ductility of real wax. Hitherto we 

 are acquainted only with its fusi- 

 bility, but such being the chief prop- 

 erty of the wax of the combs, we can- 

 not doubt that the scales enter their 

 composition. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Des Moines County Convention. 



The Des Moines County Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association held its fall meeting 

 in the Grand Jury Room in the Court 

 House at Burlington, Iowa, on Aug. 

 25, 188.5, which was called to order by 

 the President at 10 a.m. The attend- 

 ance was small on account of the busy 

 time and the bad weather, but never- 

 theless we had quite a good meeting. 

 The convention decided to make as 

 good a display at the County Fair as 

 the poor season would admit of. 



Nine members reported 124 colonies, 

 spring count, 217 fall count, and 591 

 pounds of honey as the amount ob- 

 tained previous to Aug. 25. This was 

 considered a poor showing of honey 

 from so many colonies. Various plans 

 of feeding, " doubling up," etc., were 

 discussed so as to be able to save part 

 of our bees at least ; but heart's-ease 

 and Spanish-needle has come to our 

 aid since then and yielded honey suf- 



