174 USES OF HONEY AND IVAX. 



stimulant. It supplies, in short, some fuel to that fire 

 of which I spoke in a previous chapter. We could, of 

 course, no more live upon honey than we could upon 

 beef, but, as a variety of food, it is thus most useful ; 

 and may be made to enter most advantageously, as 

 well as agreeably, into the manufacture of a great 

 number of articles of food. 



Then, again, speaking of the usefulness of bees, 

 they are very useful because of the wax which they 

 make. Wax is a most important product, and is put 

 to many uses. 



Formerly many hundreds of tons of it were used 

 to make candles, and some is even now thus used. 

 In Spain bees are kept in some parts almost entirely 

 to provide wax for tapers used in the Roman Catholic 

 churches. In Russia, also, only such candles as are made 

 of pure bees-wax are used in the churches. But since 

 so many kinds of cheap oil have .been discovered, and 

 gas has come so extensively into use, bees-wax has 

 been in most countries, in great measure, superseded. 



It is still, however, much used for other purposes, 

 such as polishing and cleaning, and as an ingredient 

 in some articles of manufacture. A vast quantity is 

 also now used in making that comb-foundation which 

 is so ihvaluable in modern bee-keeping. The wax is 

 thus given back to the bees, and is used over and 

 over again for the purpose of fre.sh comb. 



And not only honey and wax, but even propolis 

 has some use as a product of the bees. It is ex- 

 tensively used in Russia for lacquer-work. It is also 

 said to make an excellent glue for some fabrics for 

 which ordinary glue does not answer. 



