THE PRODUCTION AND TKADE IN BEES'-WAX. 79 



easily got at, and the cakes are laid out in the air for two days and two 

 nights, to render them more transparent and dry. 



The rearing and management of bees is more attended to in Russia than 

 in any other European country, and is, in fact, the principal occupation of 

 several tribes. The wild bees, however, greatly exceed those that are 

 domesticated. Their culture is principally attended to in the provinces of 

 Kasar and Ourfa. Individuals among the Baschkirs possess 100 hives in 

 their gardens, and upwards of 1,000 in the forests ! Honey is very exten- 

 sively used in many parts instead of sugar. The export of wax is very con- 

 siderable. In 1834 it amounted to 22,248 poods, or 800,928 lbs. 



The wax of the Ukraine is reported to be the best after that of Smyrna 

 and of the Archipelago, but it is not well bleached, and sometimes contains 

 particles of honey. The wax of Poland follows next ; that of Mingrelia is 

 only of a very inferior quality. The wax of Wallachia and Bessarabia is 

 very good, and is sent to Trieste. The merchants of Galatz and Brailoff 

 purchase this article in Bulgaria likewise. The ports of the Black Sea 

 export about 10,000 poods of wax yearly ; of which Taganrog ships 1,000 

 to 2,000 poods, and Odessa the remainder. 



The rearing of bees is carried on most extensively in the Vayvode and 

 the Temeser, Banate, Croatia, Slavonia and Transylvania, on the military 

 portions of Galicia, in Lombardy and Venice, and in Styria, likewise in 

 Carinthia and Carniola. In the other provinces this trade is of little con- 

 sequence or extent. The Germanic, Slavonic, and Italian provinces pro- 

 duce on an average 30,000 cwt. of wax, and the production of the other 

 half of the Austrian empire may be of equal amount. The introduction of 

 stearine candles has interfered largely with the trade in wax candles. 



Bees'-wax constitutes a very valuable and considerable article of com- 

 merce in the East. Bees have nowhere been domesticated, that I am aware 

 of, in Asia or the Indian Islands. From the perpetual succession of 

 flowers, and it being consequently unnecessary to lay up a store of provi- 

 sion, their honey is small in quantity, while, from the quality of the vege- 

 tation, it is naturally of much inferior flavour to that of higher latitudes. 

 The bees of the Indian Islands, however, afford an abundant supply of 

 wax, which is largely exported to Bengal and China. The greatest supply 

 is obtained in the islands furthest to the East, and, above all, in Timor and 

 Flores. According to Mr. Crawford, as much as 20,000 to 30,000 piculs is 

 annually exported from thence. The Chinese collect it largely themselves, 

 but the consumption is small in the eastern parts, wax being only employed 

 to encase the tallow, which, from the heat of the climate, never becomes 

 hard in the southern provinces. Wax from the Eastern Archipelago, 

 Patna, and from insects indigenous to the Tenasserim Provinces was shown 

 at the Great Exhibition. The bees of the Indian Archipelago, unlike 

 those of Europe, suspend their hives from the boughs of trees ; and, fre- 

 quenting particular trees for a series of years, they come to be looked upon 

 as private property, and are handed down from father to son. 



In the six years ending with 1850, the average annual quantity of bees'- 



