WAX MOTH. 
WAX TREE. 635 
Moldavia, the ozocerite is used for candles, which, | the wax ; others, among whom is Feburier, whose 
however, do not give so good a light as those 
made of bees’ wax. 
A great deal of wax is imported into this 
country, in addition to that which we obtain 
from our native hives; for it is used in many of 
the arts, both common and fine. Besides the 
manufacture of wax candles, many thousands of 
individuals gain their living by making wax 
dolls, to say nothing of the forming of wax-work 
portraits, and the modelling of objects of still 
life and fruits,—in both which frequently much 
talent and considerable ingenuity and knowledge 
are displayed. ‘To the engraver, wax is an in- 
dispensable object, as well as to the artist-painter, 
the architect, and the sculptor. In numerous 
useful crafts, as in many of the more scientific 
manufactures, wax is an article of peculiar utili- 
ty ; and it forms the base of the salves, ointments, 
and cerates of the surgeon, and occupies a similar 
place in the sweet-swelling pomatums and un- 
guents and cold creams of the perfumer. It is 
also a valuable aid to medicine. Its demulcent 
properties render it very efficacious in diarrhoea 
and dysentery and in other cases where it is re- 
quired to assist in protecting the mucous mem- 
brane of the stomach from the effect of any acrid 
or poisonous substance. It is generally adminis- 
tered first melted with olive oil, and then tritu- 
rated with yolk of egg, adding, by degrees, a 
solution of gum-arabic, or some other mucilagi- 
nous liquid. 
WAX MOTH,—scientifically Galleria Cereana. 
A bee-infesting moth, of the tinea family. The 
male measures about an inch from tip to tip of 
the expanded wings; and the female is consider- 
ably larger. The upper wings of the male are 
short and obtuse, and have a dusky grey colour, 
considerably varied in the tint, with a brown- 
spotted whitish band from the base to the mid- 
dle; the under wings have an ash or brownish 
grey colour, with brown fringes and white ex- 
tremity ; the body is yellowish brown; and the 
legs are yellowish grey with spots of a lighter 
colour. The upper wings of the female are longer 
and straighter, and have the white band very 
faint; the under wings are white, with dark 
grey border and veins; and the head and the back 
are dark rusty brown. The female lays her eggs 
in bee-hives, and usually accomplishes her object 
in the night, when the bees are at rest. “She 
commonly places them in some crevice about the 
lower parts of the hive; but she even ventures 
at times to enter the hive, and lay them among 
the combs. Whenever the caterpillar first sees 
the light, its instinct immediately leads it to the 
combs, among which it penetrates, forming wind- 
ing galleries, which are lined with strong silk, so 
thick that the stings of the bees cannot take ef- 
fect through it. There is a difference of opinion 
among apiarians as to what portion of the con- 
tents of the hive this intruder chiefly employs 
for food. Some allege that it confines itself to 
opinion is entitled to consideration, assert that 
it devours neither the honey nor the wax, but 
the exuvie of bee-nymphs, and, very probably, 
the nymphs themselves. But, however this may 
be, the devastation caused by these caterpillars, 
when at all numerous, (and 300 have been found 
in a hive,) is speedily destructive to the pros- 
perity of the hive; the bees gradually give way 
to them, and ultimately are often compelled to 
quit the field altogether. When full-grown, the 
caterpillar is about an inch long, of a dull white 
colour, with a brown head, and covered with 
small brownish tubercles, from the centre of 
which springs a slender hair. They attain their 
full size in three or four weeks after being 
hatched, when they prepare for becoming pupee, 
by weaving a very strong web, either in some of 
the tubes they had formerly excavated, or in 
some secure corner of the hive. Onthe Continent 
there are two broods in the year; but it does 
not appear whether this be likewise the case in 
this country. Here the moth is not nearly so 
plentiful as in many other parts of Europe. A 
nearly related species, Galleria alvearia, likewise 
occurs in Britain, but it is even scarcer than 
that just described.—There is but one sure me- 
thod of clearing the bee-hives of the wax moth; 
and this consists in looking for and destroying 
the larve and pupe. If the hives are examined 
only once a week for this purpose, any traces of 
covered passages will easily be perceived, and 
must be immediately removed and destroyed 
with the caterpillars in them. The corners of 
the hive must also be closely examined in case of 
cocoons being there, which must also be destroy- 
ed. A lighted candle has been also recommended 
to be held before the hole of the bee-hive, that 
the moth, flying out to the light, may be burned. 
But this is labour.in vain, for the female does 
not leave the hive till she has laid her eggs; and 
it is only supernumerary males that perish in 
the flame.” . 
WAX TREE. Any tree or shrub which yields 
vegetable wax. See the article Wax. But the 
name is emphatically and even distinctively 
given in some English works to the Myrica Caro- 
linensis,—an ornamental, economical, hardy, ever- 
green, amentaceous shrub, which was introduced 
to Britain from. North America in 1730. Dr. 
Hamilton, writing in 1826, and recommending 
this plant for extensive cultivation in waste tracts 
of the South of England, says, “It is perfectly 
acclimated in France, where it flourishes luxu- 
riantly in a sandy and blackish turf, rising from 
the height of four to six or even seven feet, pro- 
ducing in general an abundant crop of berries 
every year, and requiring little care in its culture. 
It is readily propagated, either by sowing the 
seeds in spring, and afterwards transplanting, or, 
which is the most expeditious method and-equally 
successful, by taking off the young shoots, which 
rise in profusion at the base of the larger shrubs, 
