Hexagonal Structure formed in Cooling Beeswax. 1 2.') 



In places wlierc the wax plati; had l)oi!ii of uiioven <l'pt!i 

 or had cooled too rapidly, tlie comb prcseiitiMl an incL^nlar 

 api oarancc, following in form the irregular hexagonal bases 

 beneath, the result being very distinctive and striking to the 

 practised eye of an a|)iarist. 



When in a natural state the newly secreted wax is formed 

 into a small j)end('nt plate, it is prol)al)le that the bees 

 crowding around produce the required amount of heat to 

 soften or to keep soft the newly deposited wax, an<l allow it 

 to cool very gradually when a few hexagonal bodies form 

 within the |)late, and these must be soon afterwards hollowed 

 out and built upon. The same process takes place repeatedly 

 a":ainst the sides of newly formed hexagons, until the comb 



• 'III' 



is large enough to suit the rerpurements ot the bee, the sizes 

 of the cells being partly influenced and regulated, as above 

 stated, by the rapidity or otherwise of the process of cooling 

 of the wax, and so indirectly, as previously mentioned, by 

 the thickness of the cooling mass*. The size of the crystals 

 may be varied experimentally from those of nearly an inch 

 across to others of microscopic dimensions. 



At the time of writing this paper we have not yet succeeded 

 in casting a large sheet of wax containing groups or rows of 

 hexagons so perfectly regular as those which are to be seen 

 in a natural comb or in a comb built upon the ordinary 

 manufactured comb-foundation. We do not preten<l, even 

 atter many exijcriments, to be able to cast a foundation of 

 hexagons with the same comi)arative exactitude as those 

 made by a bee. Although we have little doubt that we may 

 soon be able to do so, we cannot expect in a few limited 

 experiments to compete with the bee, whose seeming aptitude 

 is jjrobably the outcome of ages of natural selection and 

 adaptation. Yet the bees still prefer to adopt our less regular 

 groups or rows of crystals as bases to work upon rather than 

 pull our wax-plate to pieces so as to recast the wax with 

 greater regularity. 



A further outcome of our discoveries is that paraffin wax 

 and adulterated beeswax do not assume the same hexagonal 

 form as pure beeswax. Wq are not aware that other " animal 

 fats " on cooling assume so regular an hexagonal form. 



We have succeeded in producing a variety of characteristic 

 forms of these pseudo- crystalline bodies by the treatment of 

 certain waxes with other fats, oils, or waxes. The analytical 



• The temperature withiu a hive, iis repeatedly measured by two self- 

 recording theruionutiTs in June 181)0 at L'cktield, reached lOV Fahr. 

 without contact with the bodies of the bees. 



