78 BEE3 AND BEE-KEEPING. 



douien or belly of the worker ; this seems to be where 

 the wax pouch or laboratory is located; from this 

 the scales are taken and immediately put in the ap- 

 propriate place in the comb by the architect. The 

 bees which elaborate or produce the wax consume an 

 increased amount of food, and apparently remain in 

 a state of repose for some hours afterward, before the 

 wax is produced. In this they somewhat resemble 

 the silk worm, which, after consuming a large quan- 

 tity of food, remains in a state of repose for a time, 

 and then commences to spin its web or cocoon. In 

 this case the bee takes a certain portion of food into 

 its stomach, from which it produces wax, and in the 

 other, the silk worm takes a certain portion of food 

 of a different kind, from which it produces silk. In 

 neither case is any thing added to the body or phys- 

 ical condition of the insect, either as muscle or fat, 

 as some authors describe it ; but the insect seems to 

 be simply a manufactory, receiving into it the raw 

 material, and after passing through the necessary 

 process it comes forth a perfect article of wax. It is 

 said that from fifteen to twenty pounds of food are 

 consumed to elaborate one pound of wax. I never 

 experimented to ascertain the truth or falsity of this 

 statement, but a very large amount is consumed. It 

 requires about two and a half or three pounds of 

 wax to fill an ordinary sized hive with comb. Bevan 

 gives the following analysis of beeswax: 



ANALYSIS OF WAX. 



Carbon, 81.79 



Oxygen, 5.54 



Hydrogen, 12. 07 



