AUGfUST 15, 1914 



ezs 



produce wax for the capping to make up 

 for the deficiency. 



The bees and drones must gnaw through 

 the capping themselves before they can 

 emerge. The parts of the cappings that fall 

 off on to the bottom-board are carried out 

 of the hive. The parts remaining on the 

 cells are used for repairing them, and to 

 replace the T-shaped rims on the edge of 

 the cells, spoken of before, to strengthen 

 the cells. Any excess of wax material that 

 remains after the repairs are finished is 

 collected and kept for future use in queen- 

 cups similar in form that sometimes reach 

 the size of a hazelnut. 



Mr. Aisch made numerous experiments, 

 and, like those of Editor Bohm, they were 

 published in various journals. He experi- 

 mented extensively to find suitable colors. 

 The colors should be insoluble in wax, other- 

 wise the demarcation line is blurred, and 

 deductions from observations may be inac- 

 curate. He found that with some colors 

 soluble in wax the young nursing bees died 

 of poison; further, the wax soluble colors 

 showed only when dark-colored wax became 

 mixed with such of a bright color. By using 

 wax in soluble colors the bright-colored wax 

 could be seen in the dark-colored wax combs. 



After three years of experimenting with 

 various colors, vermilion (cinnabar) was 

 found to be the most suitable of all pig- 

 ments tried. 



The most satisfactory experiment was 

 with a piece of red foundation about 3 in 

 square. It was rapidly drawn out and fin- 

 ished with virgin wax which the bees pro- 

 duced themselves. Only very few small 

 particles were carried to the right and left 

 side, but quite an amount was carried down- 

 ward. The most of these downward-carried 

 particles of colored wax were used for the 

 lower walls of the cells. These particles fell 

 down; and, while building, the bees used it 

 either by chance or on purpose. 



An experiment with blue-colored Carnau- 

 ba wax (a wax of vegetable origin) favors 

 the hypothesis that it was an accidental use 

 of the red wax in the above experiment. A 

 frame with ordinary foundation received in 

 the center a piece of foundation made of 

 Carnauba wax colored with aniline blue 

 soluble in alcohol. The ordinary wax foun- 

 dation had been drawn out a little when the 

 bees began to gnaw on the blue Carnauba 

 foundation. Many particles of this blue 

 Carnauba wax fell down into the partly 

 drawn-out cells, and were used in drawing 

 the cells out further. Mr. Aisch concludes 

 that the blue particles below the blue-color- 

 ed Carnauba wax were not carried doAvn by 

 the bees, but while gnawing off the super- 



fluous parts they fell off and lodged on the 

 partly drawn-out cells, and were thus acci- 

 dentally used. 



In another experiment a frame with red- 

 colored wax and a frame with yellow foun- 

 dation was used. On the lower part of the 

 frame, with the yellow foundation, a small 

 dish with small led-colored particles of wax, 

 and with the frame of red foundation, a 

 dish with small particles of yellow wax was 

 used. Most of the wax was carried out of 

 the hive. The particles of wax were too 

 coarse. The experimenter recommends using 

 very finely divided wax, and moistening it 

 with honey. A small part of the wax from 

 the dishes was used by the bees. The bees 

 were then given moist honey cappings in the 

 dishes, and they accepted them readily, 

 using it to draw out combs. The bees gnaw 

 wax off the midrib from foundation, be- 

 cause they need a very thin cell-bottom. 

 They accept and use was wherever they can 

 get it. 



To show that bees want a thin cell-bottom, 

 foundation from ceresin, from Carnauba 

 wax, from paraffin, and from beeswax in 

 equal parts, were given. Some colonies 

 gnawed off the pure ceresin, and the pure 

 Carnauba wax foundation, and built drone- 

 cells in their- stead. Others accepted them. 

 It was plainly shown that they tried to 

 make the bottom of the cells (midrib) thin- 

 ner, but only in rare instances were success- 

 ful. Finally they built upon the heavy 

 midrib cells out of their own wax. 



Rev. Mr. Aisch does not agree with Editor 

 Bohm that the bees build or make the edge 

 of the cell stronger with a T-shaped rim. 

 He holds that the finished cells have these 

 reinforced edges only when there is a sur- 

 IdIus of wax present; further, that the bees 

 carry wax from honey cappings, not onlj' 

 from the entrance, but even when given in 

 a dish in front of the hive, and that they 

 gather and store it. 



To see what bees would do with ceresin 

 and mixtures of it and beeswax a piece of 

 foundation of white ceresin was put in red- 

 colored foundation. The bees drew out tho 

 colored foundation. The ceresin on one side 

 showed mere traces of red wax. The other 

 side was very slowly built, the bees using 

 much red wax. Wax with 50 per cent of 

 ceresin was colored red, and a piece of foun 

 dation from it put into a frame of founda- 

 tion of bleached wax. The red-colored mix- 

 ture was drawn out, but not as readily as 

 pure wax. It was noticed that the bees liked 

 to use the colored wax to glue and paste up 

 all kinds of fissures, cracks, and crevices 

 Did the bees suspect the wax or surmise a 

 fraud? Inspector Hofmann, Munich, has 



