THE PRODUCTION AND TRADE IN BEES'-WAX. 77 



effect. It takes a pretty good polish, but unfortunately it is very soft, and 

 the pieces are not large. It is worked into slabs, boxes, &c. It occurs 

 principally in granite, and is found in Moravia, Saxony, Bohemia, the Ural, 

 at Paris, in the State of Maine, and in Connecticut. 



THE PRODUCTION OF, AND TRADE IN, BEES'-WAX. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



The collection and commerce in bees'-wax is more extensive than is 

 generally supposed, although it has been much interfered with of late years 

 by the stearines and solid vegetable oils obtained, which come into use for 

 many purposes for which wax was formerly employed. Setting aside, for 

 the present, the other commercial product of the honey bee, we shall touch 

 only upon that obtained from the comb, or hive, in which it lays up its 

 store of provision for future use. A young hive will yield at the end of 

 the season about a pound of wax, and an old hive about twice as much. 

 The finest wax is found to be made in dry, heathy, or hilly countries. 



Every comb newly made is white, but they become yellowish, and, 

 indeed, black, by age and exposure. All combs do not, however, furnish 

 wax equally white, as is well known to those whose business it is to bleach 

 it. Yellow wax should be of a good consistence, fine colour, and of a plea- 

 sant smell. It contains a good deal of essential or acid salt, with a small 

 quantity of oil and earth. The saline constituents are less perceptible in 

 the white wax. 



The bees'-wax of Ceylon, unlike that of Europe, contains no elements 

 of acidity. The per-centage constituents of bees'-wax, according to the 

 best authorities, are as follows : — 



Gay Lussac and. 



Thenard. Saussure. Ure. 



Carbon 81'79 81-59 80-69 



Oxygen 5 - 54 4*55 7'94 



Hydrogen 12-67 13-86 11-37 



Total 100- 100- 100- 



The quantity of wax produced in this country it is impossible to estimate; 

 but Sir Richard Phillips, in his " Dictionary of Arts," assumes the number 

 of bees in Great Britain and Ireland sufficient to produce upwards of 1,300 

 tons of wax annually, besides 5,000 tons of honey. 



The following are the present prices of bees'-wax (September 20, 1860), 

 as compared with the corresponding period last year : — 



1860. 1859. 



£ s. £ s. £ s. £ s. 



English 8 5 to 8 10 8 5 to 8 10 



German 8 to 8 5 8 to 8 10 



