THE PRODUCTION AND TRADE IN BEES'-WAX. 81 



living creature which is subject to the control of man, pays so large a share 

 of profit as the honey bee. As we look abroad upon our cultivated fields, 

 upon our hills and valleys, what an entire loss are we compelled to witness, 

 of vast quantities of honey, on every side, which, without injury to any one, 

 might be gathered, if bees in sufficient numbers were introduced through- 

 out the province. Some years ago it was calculated that in one year the 

 island of Cuba exported honey and wax to the value of upwards of £100,000 

 sterling ; and it has also been ascertained that if bees were more generally 

 kept, the pastures of Scotland would produce four million pints of honey, 

 and one million pounds of wax, with scarcely any outlay of capital or time. 

 There is still living on the Pentland hills, near Edinburgh, a shepherd who 

 takes charge of hundreds of hives annually, for farmers living at a distance. 

 This province, New Brunswick, contains upwards of seventeen millions of 

 acres, and we may safely estimate the production of one acre to be one 

 pound of honey, which is but a small part of the real product in most 

 places. Bee keeping, when conducted on proper principles, will form no 

 mean item in the domestic economy of the agriculturist, and ought to yield 

 a profit at least sufficient to pay the rent of a small farm. I was remu- 

 nerated last year with four to five cwts. of honey and wax, from not over a 

 dozen of hives, situate in my small flower garden, and several who keep 

 these busy bodies are in a fair way to equal, if not exceed that quantity the 

 present season. At the same time let it be remembered that the bee is too 

 fond of roaming for its pastures to be confined to a flower garden." 



Bees'-wax is a considerable article of trade among the Mandingoes, on 

 the banks of the Gambia. They make hives of straw, resembling ours in 

 shape, and fit a bottom board into them, through which they form an aper- 

 ture for the bees to pass through ; they then sling them to branches of 

 trees. "When they take the combs, they smother the bees,' and, pressing off 

 the honey, of which they make wine, they boil up the wax with water, 

 strain it and press it through coarse cloths into holes made in the ground 

 for the purpose. They make and sell large quantities of it on the river, 

 but its manufacture might be much increased. That which is clearest from 

 dirt and dross is, of course, the best. The factors prove it by boring the 

 cakes, which are from 20 lbs. to 120 lbs. weight. We import annually 

 about 2,000 cwts. of unbleached wax from the Gambia. 



The following are some of the principal varieties of wax received here : — 



American yellow wax. Irish yellow wax bleached by the 



French yellow wax. action of sun light. 



French bleached wax. East Indian yellow wax. 



West African wax. Madras virgin wax. 



Cape wax. Jamaica wax. 



Sierra Leone wax. Cuba wax. 



Gambia yellow wax. Java bleached. 



Morocco yellow wax. Mauritius dark wax. 



Mogadore wax. Continental wax received through 



Irish yellow wax. Holland. 



Ditto prepared for bleaching. 



