Nature of Wax. 151 
while the third element, carbon, is in the same or about the 
same proportion as the oxygen. Now, the fats usually 
contain little oxygen and a good deal of carbon and hydro- 
gen. Thus the sugar, by losing some of its oxygen, would 
contain the requisite elements for fat. It was found true 
in the days of slavery in the South that the negroes of 
Louisiana, during the gathering of the cane, would become 
very fat.. They ate much sugar; they gained much fat. 
Now, wax is a fat-like substance, not that it is the animal 
fat of bees, as often asserted—in fact it contains much less 
hydrogen, as will be seen by the following formula from 
Hess: 
OXY eM. ccssscencrecsnneresacenee sesece ae artsene teasesereneneencneaes 7.50 
Earbon..sersevarerrssiseve sov0ee29.30 
BEY CrOg Ci gccccartasemmianannncasacectasivautaisanigicananion hnsenieinensen 13,20 
—but it is a special secretion for a special purpose, and 
from its composition we should conclude that it might be 
‘secreted from a purely saccharine diet, and experiment con- 
firms the conclusion. Dr. Planta has found that there is a 
trace of nitrogen in wax scales, a little less than .6 of one 
per cent., while he finds in newly made comb, nearly .9 of 
one per cent. It has been found that bees require about 
twenty pounds of honey to secrete one of wax. The experi- 
ments of Mr. P. L. Viallon show this estimate of Huber 
to be too great. .My own experiments would sustain 
Huber’s statement. In these experiments the bees are con- 
fined, and so the conclusions are to be received with caution. 
We cannot know how much the results are changed by the 
abnormal condition in which the bees are placed. 
For a time nitrogenous food is not necessary to the secre- 
tion of wax. Probably the small amount of nitrogen in 
the scales and in the saliva may be furnished by the blood. 
This of course could not continue long. — 
It is asserted that to secrete wax, bees need to hang in 
compact clusters or festoons, in absolute repose. Such 
quiet would certainly seem conducive to most active secre- 
tion. The food could not go to form wax, and at the 
_ same time supply the waste of tissue which ever follows 
upon muscular activity. The cow, put to hard toil, could 
not give so much milk. But I find, upon examination, 
