WAX. 53 



days aftei^or seven and a half, for tlie afternoon of the 

 day of swarming was not included — this hive weighed 45 

 lb., and was filled with combs. These combs, pure and 

 simple, would weigh 2 lb. If 40 lb. of honey were con- 

 sumed in the production of the 2 lb. of wax, the gather- 

 ing of this swarm was enormous. "Who can believe that 

 this swarm consumed 40 lb. and stored up about 20 lb. 

 of honey in seven days? Liebig's experiments were 

 honestly made, and the results honestly recorded, but no 

 close observer of comb-building in bee-hives will admit 

 that they are, or ever can be, representative in their 

 character. Whyi The experiments were made with 

 about 10 oz. of bees — a mere handful. Both the weather 

 and the warmth of a hive have a great influence in comb- 

 building. 



Dr Liebig says that it takes thirty-eight hours to con- 

 vert honey into wax ; that is to say, that the laminse or 

 thin plates of wax do not appear on the bellies of the 

 bees till thirty-eight hours after it has been taken into 

 their intestines. This surely is not correct, for bees that 

 are driven into a hive at six o'clock of a summer evening, 

 often commence to build combs before six o'clock next 

 morning. And if no combs be formed or visible then, 

 there will invariably be seen laminse or flakes of wax lying 

 on the board inside beneath the swarm. The making or 

 secreting of wax is voluntary on the part of bees ; and 

 this is one of the secrets of bee-history that can never be 

 fathomed. Bees do not secrete wax when their hives are 

 filled with combs ; but remove the bees from a large full 

 hive into an empty one, and in less than twelve hours 

 they make two ot three pieces of comb. 



"Wax is made from syrup or treacle as well as from 

 honey, and neither pollen nor water is necessary in its 

 production. If a swarm were put into an empty hive, 



