23G 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 11, 1S59, 
tho possibility of tho whole being formed from wax “ collected 
before their imprisonment.” Mr. Wighton also says that he 
lias never heard of wax “ being distilled in the substance of 
honey,” and hazards the hypothesis, that it “ may form one of 
the constituents of sugar, though it does not of honey.” Will 
he excuse my asking him, if he has ever heard of any one of the 
numberless animal secretions that exist having been perfectly 
reproduced either by distillation or any other artificial means ? 
What grounds, also, can be shown for the supposition that wax 
may exist in sugar—a substance artifically produced, and never 
presented to bees (in this country, at least) in their natural 
state—and not in honey, when the principal constituents of all 
three—sugar, honey, and wax—are identically the same—viz., 
hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. 
That bees-wax is, in fact, an animal secretion, is sufficiently 
demonstrated by Oppermann, by whom it has been proved that 
pure vegetable wax differs from bees-wax in the ratio of its 
elements. 
If additional evidence be required, it may be found in the pages 
of F. W. Gundlach, who appears almost to rival his great pre¬ 
decessor Huber, in habits of patient research and laborious 
investigation. He remarked, that when wax was secreted from 
sugar there appeared “ some imperfection in the process, as the 
laminar did not fall off, but adhered to the succeeding ones.” 
He also says, that “ from an ounce of wax, bees can build cells 
enough to coutain a pound of honey.” A very elaborate ex¬ 
periment, made for the purpose of ascertaining “ how much 
honey bees require to form w r ax,” resulted in proving a fact of 
much importance to all bee-keepers—viz., that “ to form a pound 
of wax, twenty pounds of honey are required ! ” 
A circumstance also recurs to my recollection, which appears 
so conclusive, that I may be excused for relating it. Early in 
February, 1850, I inspected a stock hive, whose inhabitants 
had recently perished by starvation. I was informed, that either 
late hi December, or early in January, the hive had been blown 
down, and the combs knocked out. They were, however, re¬ 
placed, and duly refixed by the bees ; but what struck my 
attention most, was, that in the vacant space between the top of 
the hive and the combs, caused by the latter resting on the floor¬ 
board, a number of new pieces of comb had been constructed, 
whose virgin purity contrasted strongly with the blackened ap¬ 
pearance of the more ancient ones, which they surmounted. 
Bearing in mind that these structures were reared in the depth 
of winter, when the inclemency of the weather must have kept 
the bees prisoners, and when, also, there was nothing abroad for 
them to gather, it appears to me perfectly certain, that the store 
of honey within the hive had been exhausted in secreting wax 
for these necessary works, and that the famine which ultimately 
overtook the little labourers had been hastened, if not entirely 
produced, by this cause. M. Duchet relates a somewhat similar 
instance in his “ Culture des Abeilles,” from which he draws the 
same conclusion. 
I can fully corroborate what Mr. Wighton says has been already 
stated by my friend, Mr. Taylor, respecting the number of bees 
to be seen during spring and summer on the young leaves of the 
Laurel, and fancy I can solve the mystery. At the back of every 
Laurel leaf, near its base, and on either side of the midrib, maybe 
found two or three small ^glands, by which, whilst the leaf re¬ 
mains young, a luscious fluid is continually secreted. As winter 
approaches, this secretion ceases, and the glands appear only as 
brown spots. It is this exudation which the bees so perseveringly 
collect, by licking, not scraping, and which I believe to be much 
more nearly allied to honey than to wax, and only capable of 
being converted into the latter in so far as its saccharine character 
may admit of its being secreted in the wax pockets of the bee. 
On examination, I find that the opinion that wax is ejected 
from the mouth of the bee was very general when wax was 
believed to be extracted from pollen. Both these notions appear 
to have been exploded about the same time, and I have a strong 
impression that future observation will satisfy Mr. Wighton that 
one is as erroneous as the other. 
I have always regarded the division of working bees into two 
classes as being, probably, rather fanciful than real. At the 
same time, 1 should be slow in pronouncing it absolutely untrue, 
without investigating, and, if possible, repeating the experiments 
on which the supposed distinction is founded. 
My proposition for trying waxen plates as a substitute for arti¬ 
ficial comb was based on the assumption that the latter had been 
successfully made use of. Tf it should turn out that the whole 
affair has no more substantial foundation than the imagination 
of one of our Transatlantic cousins, no one will bo less surprised 
than —A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 
P.S.—If Mr. Wighton’s apiarian work is still in print, I 
should bo obliged by his favouring me with its title, and the 
name cf his publisher. 
I am one of [those who, in common with a “ Devonshire 
Bee-keeper,” were rather startled at Mr. Wighton’s statement 
“ respecting bees collecting wax from plants.” It may, indeed, 
be true, that “the theory that wax is secreted from honey in the 
stomach of the bee has never been clearly established,”— i.e,, so 
clearly established as to be beyond the possibility of a doubt,— 
although the result of Huber’s experiments, joined to what most 
intelligent apiarians have observed themselves, goes far, in my 
judgment, to prove that wax is “ a secretion ,” formed between 
the plate-rings of the abdomen of the insect, and not a foreign 
substance, collected from plants or elsewhere. Anyhow, Mr. 
Wighton, as it appears to me, has advanced nothing beyond the 
merest conjecture, in refutation of the old belief of apiarians, 
from Huber downwards. For instance, as to the Laurel and 
other such plants, it is no doubt true, that bees are often seen 
hovering about their tender shoots in spring and summer, and 
scraping something of a gummy nature therefrom—but, is this 
substance wax ? Is it not rather a something highly aromatic and 
resinous, which wax is not, and more likely, therefore, to be 
propolis ? Besides, if wax be collected from the Laurel, how is 
it one secs so very few bees (comparatively) collecting it, or from 
any other trees or plants of a similar nature ? 
Then, again, where do the bees stow away the wax ? Not, cer¬ 
tainly, on their thighs ; nor has any one yet seen them packing 
the wax, thus collected, between the rings of the belly, or else¬ 
where. Besides, it remains to be proved that either wax or 
propolis are found on plants at any other season than the height 
of spring, or summer, or autumn; whereas, if you give bees 
honey, or food of any kind containing sugar, in sufficient quan¬ 
tities, at any season of the year, excepting in severe frost, they 
will make comb.—B. and W. 
PRESERVING TOADS. 
Leaving to my friend Mr. Wighton to remark upon that part 
of “Bufo’s ” inquiry which relates to ants, I take up the other 
portion about toads. I have had a great deal of experience with 
these reptiles, having made pets of them for several years. I 
have kept them through the winter, and observed most of their 
habits. It is true that they must not be exposed to severe cold, 
but on the other hand they must not be kept warm. Toads feed 
freely till the latter part of November ; then they go into winter 
quarters, where they remain till the breeding season, in February, 
or March, according to the temperature. They require no food 
all this time. One that I kept refused food from November*22 
till February 3. He then took two or three flies, and no more till 
March 13, when he took food as usual. My tame toads have always 
been kept in a large glass made on purpose, and remained through 
the winter in the parlour, where a fire was constantly kept up, 
except during the night. They were placed, however, at a dis¬ 
tance from the fire, in the darkest and coolest corner of the room. 
“ Btjfo ” must bear in mind, that toads in their natural state 
bury themselves during winter in the ground, and often in dung¬ 
hills. They require, therefore, protection from severe cold ; but 
too much warmth would be opposed to their natural crisis of 
hybernation. I have found them do well in a glass, or jar, with 
plenty of moss to burrow under. They will lie thus, with little 
motion, all through the winter. They do not want moisture 
like frogs : they rather love dry places, and do not go near the 
water, except at the breeding season in the spring.—F. C. 
Husenbeth, D.D. 
Ants on Peach Trees. —During my long practice of forcing 
Peaches, I never observed their blossoms injured by ants, as 
noticed by “ Btjfo,” at page 184. In general, ants hunt about 
the trees after insects, which they carry off to their nests ; also, 
the sweet deposits of insects on the leaves, resembling “ honey 
dew.” Too much traffic, however, of ants, is injurious to plants. 
And they are also fond of soft, ripe fruit, and must be kept within 
bounds. I do not know of any better remedies than those 
already advised for “ Btjfo.” —J. Wighton. 
