902 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Dec. 28, 1905 



I am sorry that I can give you no information as to the 

 domestic production of wax. 



"You may be interested in some things which were 

 found by the bureau of chemistry of this department. 

 Samples of comb foundation were examined from all over 

 the United States and no adulterations were found. How- 

 ever, three samples were received from Canada which 

 were not pure and, it is claimed, that a considerable por- 

 tion of the comb foundation used in Europe contains 

 paraffin or cerasin. 



"Not long ago I was talking to the chemist who has 

 charge of the beeswax analysis in the bureau of chemistry, 

 and he said it was a very difficult matter to be perfectly 

 sure of adulteration in wax. He showed me a cake which 

 had every appearance of being pure beeswax and of a very 

 decided odor, which is so characteristic. He said that an 

 analysis of this showed that it was pure cerasin, and that 

 the odor had been given to it by the use of some chemical. 

 It contained absolutely no beeswax, but had a melting 

 pomt exactly the same as that of pure wax. All manner 

 of substances are used in adulteration, including not only 

 paraffin, cerasin, and similar waxes, but also such things 

 as starch. 



"It is then certainly to the interest of bee-keepers to 

 watch this adulteration very carefully and to run down 

 all cases of adulteration that can be found, and thus 

 increase the value of pure wax, which now brings such a 

 low price." 



It was announced that the committee appointed to 

 consider the apiarian exhibition had decided that next 

 fall would be the best time for such a fair. It will take 

 as long as that to complete all plans for such an exhibition. 

 Mr. Russell said in part: "I have often wondered why 

 someone did not volunteer to give us a little talk on wax, 

 and by wax I mean beeswax, not the vegetable production. 



"Wax, you know, stands second to honey among bee- 

 products. Before I am through talking I am going to try 

 to show: First, what wax really is, when and by whom 

 discovered, how formed; second, mode of extraction; third 

 uses of wax; fourth, value of wax, amount produced, tests 

 for purity, and the like. 



"First, what is wax? All bee-keepers and others per- 

 haps have watched the bees entering the hives with their 

 hind legs covered with large masses of colored matter 

 which we have learned from various sources was pollen 

 We have also noticed the different colors produced, most 

 generally some shade of yellow, or orange, although crim- 

 son, green, or even black, may be seen. This pollen was 

 considered by the ancients to be wax and was called by 

 Reamur, a French natural philosopher of the early part 

 of the thirteenth century, 'crude wax.' 



"This opinion was overthrown by the discovery of a 

 French peasant in 1768 that the substance used in the con- 

 struction of a comb emanated from between the rings of 

 the abdomen. Even at this early date there were bee- 

 keepers associations, and I found that this peasant was a 

 member of one of these societies. The real discoverer of 

 wax, however, is disputed. 



"In 1769 Francois Huber, a blind bee-keeper of France 

 assisted by a faithful servant, repeated the discovery of 

 the French peasant, and experimented in a manner that 

 has made his name famous. 



"On the abdomen of the bee there are 12 plates 6 on 

 a side. I will quote from authority : "If the abdomen be 

 elongated there will appear extremely smooth and delicate 

 expansions upon which plates of greater or less size and 

 thickness may be discovered. These pale, yellow, tender 

 discs are 8 in number, 4 on a side. The contour of the 

 membranes determines the form of the wax scales which 

 are molded upon their surface as the secretion passed 

 from^ the glands beneath.' 



"We have not come to the point where we are ready 

 to answer that important question, 'What is wax?' 

 Cheshire says: "Wax, like every secretion, vegetable or 

 mineral, is at first a liquid. It is derived from the blood 

 by cell-action, and then transuding the structureless mem- 

 branes, assumes the solid form of the scale.' He further 

 says: 'Wax is not chemically a fat, yet it is nearly allied 

 to the fat in atomic constitutions.' 



"Langstroth says: 'Wax is a natural secretion which 

 is produced by bees, as cattle produce fat by eating The 

 first condition indispensable for bees to produce wax is to 

 have the stomach well filled.' Nearly all authorities tell 

 us that wax is formed after gorging or overeating 



It takes about 24 hours for a bee's food to become 

 transformed into wax. It is more noticeable in young I 



bees than old, working on the general supposition that it 

 is more difficult to fatten an old animal than a young one. 



"These wax scales are so small and light that 100 of 

 them hardly weigh as much as a kernel of wheat. That 

 these scales also differ from the wax of the comb has been 

 readily shown. The scales are carried to the mouth of 

 the bee and there masticated with a salivary secretion, 

 imparting to it the quality of ductility. 



"Two experimenters have stated that bees use about 

 7 pounds of honey to produce one pound of wax. You 

 can readily see, therefore, that feeding for wax is not 

 profitable. 



"Under my second head, 'Mode of extracting wax,' I 

 can speak more from my own observations and experi- 

 ments. There are many ways and devices for extracting, 

 but the prime factor of them all is heat. The solar ex- 

 tractor, I thought at one time, was the best thing that 

 could be invented, but when a spare day came to me. and 

 that day was cloudy, and I had a lot of old comb on hand, 

 I concluded I must try something else. My solar ex- 

 tractor was made similar to all others. It is not suc- 

 cessful at all times in this climate, for the sun's rays are 

 not hot enough excepting for a comparatively short time. 

 There is another serious objection to the solar extractor. 

 You cannot use in it old comb filled with cocoons. 



"The Ferris extractor has been a great help to me, 

 although the first time I used it I ran against two or three 

 snags. The Ferris consists of an outside boiler, an inside 

 basket and a screw press. One thing I like about the 

 extractor, you can put in a whole frame and clean it off 

 in a short time." 



Mr. Russell stated that his principal objection to the 

 Ferris extractor was that one must take time if he wanted 

 to get the wax from the center. The invention of a new 

 extractor by Mr. Miller does away with that, and Mr. 

 Miller demonstrated hovy it worked. 

 Mr. Russell said further: 

 "Under my third head I am going to mention briefly 

 the principal uses of wax. Wax enters largely into the 

 make-up of candles. Several authorities state that the 

 Roman Catholic church prefers candles made of pure 

 beeswax, while one authority says: 'It is prescribed to 

 priests to use exclusively wax produced by bees.' 



"The women are very familiar with waxed threads, 

 but there are so many adulterated pieces sold that they 

 wonder sometimes what they are using. Floors are pol- 

 ished with waxine or something that contains wax. Wax 

 also enters into ointments. Sculptors and painters have 

 a use for wa.x. 



"Bee-keepers, of course, are at sea unless they have 

 wax for foundation starters for frames or sections. Nearly 

 every farmer uses wax; that is, if they do any grafting 

 at all. In many cabinet shops, in shops where wooden 

 patterns are made, pure wax is used to fill up cracks, cover 

 up screw-heads and preferred everywhere for finished 

 work. There are a thousands and one uses for wax, and 

 sometimes one is led to ask, Is wax second to honey? 

 Ought it not rather to be placed first in commercial 

 importance? 



"Fourth and last, we have the value of wax, amount 

 produced, tests for purity, and the like. It is impossible 

 to get at the actual value and the amount of wax produced. 

 "There are several vegetable waxes used in adultera- 

 tions. Japanese wax is obtained from the small-stone 

 fruits of several species of rhus cultivated in Japan. This 

 rhus is akin to our stomach. 



"Then there is the myrtle-berry wax, obtained from 

 the fruit of the myrica. 



"Carnuba wax is an exudation on the surface of the 

 growing leaves of the carnuba palm, which flourishes in 

 tropical countries of America. 



"Palm wax is also an exudation found on the stems 

 of two other South American palms. 



"Other adulterations are: Parffin, a product of dis- 

 tillation of many organic substances. 



"An American petroleum contains very little paraffin, 

 ceresin, a gummy substance, starch, tallow and other 

 greases. It is a matter of fact if you want to adulterate 

 anything, adulterants can be readily found. 

 (Continued from pa^e 883} 



See Langstroth Book Offer on another pag-e of this 

 copy of the American Bee Journal. 



