AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



647 



Wavelets o[ News. 



"Wax Secretion. 



I have a theory of my own as to when 

 and why bees secrete wax. They secrete 

 wax whenever they have more honey 

 than they havecomlDsin which to store 

 it away. At such times they have to 

 hold their honey in thoirsacs — they have 

 no other plajce to put it. The wax is 

 secreted as a consequence of holding the 

 honey in their sacs. Now, this is the 

 whole sum and substance of wax secre- 

 tion. Give a swarm of bees a full set of 

 empty combs, and will they secrete wax? 

 No, not much ; but give them an empty 

 hive when honey is plentiful, but no 

 combs, then the secretion goes on rap- 

 idly. Why ? Because the bees' sacs are 

 full of honey, and they have to hold it 

 until combs are built to store it away. 



Another case : Hiv^e a swarm in an 

 empty hive when there is a dearth of 

 honey. When the bees have to eat all 

 the honey they can get to keep alive, 

 will they secrete wax ? Not any. They 

 have no honey in their sacs. I hived a 

 swarm last September — a good sized one 

 and they lived until cold weather, but 

 never built an inch of comb — then 

 starved. Why did they not secrete wax? 

 No honey. 



I have seen it stated in bee-periodicals 

 that only young bees secrete wax. Now, 

 I think that is a mistake. I have no 

 doubt that young beos do secrete wax ; 

 but that they never secrete wax after 

 they are old enough to go to the fields 

 and gather honey is not so. I know that 

 bees will secrete wax and build combs 

 until they are six weeks old. Can I 

 prove it ? Yes. 



Several years ago a bee-man near here 

 hived a swarm of bees in a frame hive 

 that I sold him. Just 21 days after, 

 they had filled the hive full of combs, 

 and a set of boxes with honey, and 

 swarmed. That day the swarm was put 

 into another hive, and they filled that 

 hive also, in three weeks. Now, do you 

 notice that this last swarm of bees were 

 at least a part of the first swarm ? or, in 

 other words, every bee in the last swarm 

 was one of the first swarm, and was not 

 less than 21 days old, and they could 

 not get young bees in the second hive 

 in less than 21 days more? So the 

 same lot of bees were secreting wax and 

 building comb for six weeks. 



I believe that, as long as a bee lives, 

 it can secrete wax and build comb with 

 it, and that old bees can secrete wax as 



freely as young ones, and that wax is 

 never secreted to any amount unless the 

 bees have to hold their honey for the 

 lack of room to store it away, and they 

 cannot secrete wax unless they are hold- 

 ing honey in their sacs. — E. France, in 

 Gleanings. 



Standard for Honey Exhibits. 



At the convention in Albany, the 

 desirability of a standard of comparison 

 in awarding premiums on bees at Fairs 

 and Expositions was touched upon. It 

 is a good idea, and I have long thought 

 that a similar standard, or scale of 

 points, should be furnished the judges 

 of honey at such exhibitions. Better 

 justice would be done exhibitors, awards 

 being many times made without intelli- 

 gent inspection. That is to say, they 

 are made (with the best of intentions on 

 the part of the judges) in an off-hand 

 manner. 



A case in point occurred at a State 

 Fair. After an award had been made 

 upon a specimen of comb-honey, some of 

 the other exhibitors decided to examine 

 it, when it was found that the case con- 

 tained a few sections of white honey, 

 while the remainder was dark and in- 

 ferior. The case was closed, and noth- 

 ing, so far as I am aware, was ever said; 

 but certainly the superficial examination 

 of the judge resulted in injustice to ex- 

 hibitors of better honey. 



If the idea should meet with approval, 

 it is perhaps not too late to induce oflfi- 

 cials to put it into the premium lists of 

 Fairs and Expositions to take place dur- 

 ing the coming Summer and Fall. 

 Brought thus to the notice of bee-keep- 

 ers, it would have an educational value, 

 the effect of which would appear in the 

 better grading of honey for market. I 

 submit the following scale for amend- 

 ments ; 



( Color, 5. 

 Honey— •] Body, 5. 



f Flavor, 5 15 



i Straightness, 5. 

 Comb — - Color of capping, 5. 



( Completeness of capping, 5. . 15 



Uniformity 10 



Stylo 10 



Possible 50 



By " uniformity " is meant the close- 

 ness of resemblance in the sections com- 

 posing the specimen. " Style" includes 

 the attractiveness of section and case, 

 also absence of propolis,— Emily E. 

 West, in Gleanings, 



