WAX.
Origin--Production--Chemical Constitution--Comb Building--Detailed
Description--Amount of Wax in Hives--Commercial Value--Properties.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--A Worker Bee, showing the Scales of Wax.]
It was long thought that wax was a product derived, like honey,
immediately from flowers. Not only did popular ignorance suppose
that the pellets of pollen carried on the thighs of the worker-bees
consisted of this substance, but even some authors on apiculture fell
into the same error. It is now ascertained with certainty that wax is
a sort of animal fat, elaborated from honey by certain internal organs
of the bee. It exudes in a liquid form from sacklets on the under
side of each of the four intermediate ventral segments of the abdomen.
There are two of these pockets to each segment, one on either side of
the _carina_ or elevated central part. They are trapeziform in shape,
and impart the same form to the tiny plates which emerge from them.
On reaching the air the liquid thickens, and dries in flakes like
fish-scales. The secretion of wax is carried on by the workers only,
queens and drones being destitute of the apparatus necessary for the
purpose. No direct communication has been traced between the stomach
and the wax-sacks, but it has been conjectured by Hunter that the
secretion is effected by the network of vessels lining the receptacles
as a membrane covered with hexagonal cells, somewhat like the second
stomach of ruminating quadrupeds.
Chemically considered, wax consists entirely of carbon, oxygen,
and hydrogen; and, as before mentioned, is elaborated wholly from
honey. Some authors have maintained that pollen is necessary for its
production, but this is the case probably only indirectly; that is to
say, the nitrogenous constituent of pollen may be necessary for the
nutriment and stimulation of the secreting organs. It certainly does
not enter into the constitution of the wax itself.
The quantity of honey required for this process of wax-making is
very large. It is generally believed, in fact, to be from fifteen to
twenty times the weight of the material derived from it; in other
words, for every ounce of wax produced, at least a pound of honey is
consumed by the bees. During the oxygenation of so large a quantity of
saccharine matter, much heat is evolved a fact frequently noticed when
comb-building is going on rapidly in a hive.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Festoons of Bees Suspended from the Roof of
the Hive.]
When wax is required for the abode of a fresh swarm, or for filling up
vacant spaces with comb, the bees hang in festoons or chains, crossing
the hive in different directions. Remaining almost motionless for
about twenty-four hours, the wax-makers proceed with their business.
Then, as soon as the little scales are of the proper consistency, they
are withdrawn by the pincers on the hind legs of the bee, and carried
between the fore-legs to the mouth. There, worked up with a small
quantity of saliva, the substance is softened ready for use, and being
conveyed away by those who have prepared it, and deposited in small
masses, it furnishes the materials from which the comb-builders do
their share of the duties of the hive. Possibly some of the individuals
of the lower parts of the festoons, or clusters, may pass up their
portions of wax to those above them for transmission to the top of the
hive; but the fact is not thoroughly ascertained. Evans graphically
says:--
"Lo, filtered through yon flutterer's folded mail,
Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift, at her well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buzz boon Nature breathes in vain)
Spring to each falling flake, and bear along
Their glossy burdens to the builder-throng."
It often happens that the fine scales fall by accident, or perhaps,
when superabundant in quantity, on to the floor-boards of hives, and
it does not appear, from our observation, that those bees who happen
to come upon these little portions of material carry them up for
employment in cell-formation.
The wax is used in comb-building, and the subject is one of great
interest on many accounts, but especially from the following
considerations: the nature of the material; the organs by which it
is produced; the implements with which it is fashioned into shape;
the manner in which the work is done; the form of the cells, the
mathematical characters of which are most surprising; their different
sizes and shapes, according to the purposes for which they are
destined; their perfect adaptation to the needs of the bee community.
With regard to the nature of the material, in addition to the facts
already mentioned, we may note that it is a substance easily moulded,
especially when exposed to a gentle heat, such as is generated in a
hive. It is light, so as to add little to the weight of the contents
which will be stored in the cells. It is also a very slow conductor of
heat, a matter of great importance both in summer and in winter. For,
if it readily both absorbed and radiated heat, the temperature would,
in the former season, become too high; while, in the winter, too great
effort, and a large additional amount of food, would be needed by the
bees to keep up the temperature of the hive to a point of safety for
its inhabitants. Again, wax is a material which, by means of _propolis_
(of which we shall presently speak), admits of being fastened in
position so securely as to be able to bear a great weight of brood,
honey, and bee-bread, in the cells.
The organs by which wax is secreted, and the implements with which it
is fashioned, will be described fully in the chapter devoted to the
physiology and anatomy of the bee; but we may say here that they are
exceedingly simple, and that it is wonderful such beautiful work can be
accomplished by means of them.
But the manner in which comb-building is done is so marvellous, that
it merits a detailed description. It is to Huber that we are indebted
for the full exposition of this subject, and we cannot do better than
quote his account of the process, as given by Kirby and Spence. We must
premise, however, that the great naturalist thought there were two
distinct classes of workers, the one of which he called the wax-makers;
the other, the nurse-bees. Observations continued since his day have
rendered it certain that this is a mistaken distinction. As a general
rule the care of the young devolves, as we have already said, on the
most recently hatched of the community, who are unfit, for some days
after emerging from the cell, to take distant flight in search of
stores from flowers. The older and stronger workers, on the other hand,
go abroad for supplies, and then, on their return, secrete whatever wax
is needed in the economy of the hive.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Cluster of Bees.]
The process of comb-building is described by Huber as follows:--"The
wax-makers having taken a due portion of honey or sugar, from either
of which wax can be elaborated, suspend themselves to each other, the
claws of the fore-legs of the lowermost being attached to those of the
hind pair of the uppermost, and form themselves into a cluster, the
exterior layer of which looks like a kind of curtain. This cluster
consists of a series of festoons or garlands, which cross each other
in all directions, and in which most of the bees turn their back upon
the observer.... The wax-makers remain immovable for about twenty-four
hours, during which period the formation of wax takes place, and thin
laminæ of this material may be generally perceived under their abdomen.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Wax-Worker Commencing a Comb.]
"One of these bees is now seen to detach itself from one of the central
garlands of the cluster, to make a way amongst its companions to the
middle of the vault, or top of the hive, and by turning itself round
to form a kind of void, in which it can move itself freely. It then
suspends itself to the centre of the space which it has cleared, the
diameter of which is about an inch. It next seizes one of the laminæ
of wax with a pincer formed by the posterior metatarsus (last joint of
the leg), and tibia (last joint but two), and drawing it from beneath
the abdominal segments, one of the anterior legs takes it with its
claws and carries it to the mouth. This leg holds the lamina with
its claws vertically, the tongue rolled up serving for a support,
and by elevating it or depressing it at will, causes the whole of
its circumference to be exposed to the action of its mandibles (or
jaws), so that the margin is soon gnawed into pieces, which drop as
they are detached into the double cavity, bordered with hairs, of the
mandibles (jaws). These fragments, pressed by others newly separated,
fall on one side of the mouth, and issue from it in the form of a
narrow riband. They are then presented to the tongue, which impregnates
them with a frothy liquor like a _bouilli_. During this operation the
tongue assumes all sorts of forms; sometimes it is flattened like a
spatula, then like a trowel, which applies itself to the riband of
wax. At other times it resembles a pencil terminating in a point.
After having moistened the whole of the riband, the tongue pushes it
to make it re-enter the mandibles, but in an opposite direction, where
it is worked up anew. The liquor mixed with the wax communicates to
it a whiteness and opacity which it had not before; and the object of
this mixture, which did not escape the observation of Réaumur, is,
doubtless, to give it that ductility and tenacity which it possesses in
its perfect state.
"The foundress-bee--the name which this first beginner of a comb
deserves--next applies these prepared parcels of wax against the vault
(or top of a frame) of the hive, disposing them with the point of her
mandibles in the direction which she wishes them to take; and she
continues these manœuvres until she has employed the whole lamina that
she had separated from her body, when she takes a second, proceeding in
the same manner. She gives herself no care to compress the molecules of
wax which she has heaped together. She is satisfied if they adhere to
each other. At length she leaves her work, and is lost in the crowd
of her companions. Another succeeds and resumes the employment, then
a third. All follow the same plan of placing their little masses, and
if any one, by chance, gives them a contrary direction, another coming
removes them to their proper place.
"The result of all these operations is a mass or little wall of wax,
with uneven surfaces, five or six lines (twelfths of an inch) long, two
lines high, and half a line thick, which descends perpendicularly. In
this first work is no angle nor any trace of the figure of the cells.
It is a simple partition in a right line without any inflection.
"The wax-makers having thus laid a foundation of a comb, are succeeded
by the nurse-bees [here Huber is wrong[2]], which are alone competent
to model and perfect the work. The former are the labourers, who convey
the stone and mortar; the latter the masons, who work them up into
the form which the intended structure requires. One of these bees now
places itself horizontally on the vault (or bar-frame) of the hive,
its head corresponding to the centre of the mass or wall which the
wax-makers have left, and which is to form the partition of the comb
into two opposite assemblages of cells; and with its mandibles (jaws),
rapidly moving its head, it moulds in that side of the wall a cavity
which is to form the base of one of the cells, to the diameter of which
it is equal. When it has worked some minutes it departs, and another
takes its place, deepening the cavity, heightening its lateral margins
by heaping up the wax to right and left, by means of its teeth and
fore-feet, and giving to them a more upright form. More than twenty
bees successively employ themselves in this work.
[Footnote 2: See remark immediately preceding the quotation.]
"When arrived at a certain point, other bees begin on the yet untouched
and opposite side of the mass, and commencing the bottom of two cells,
are in turn relieved by others. While still engaged in this labour
the wax-makers return, and add to the mass, augmenting its extent in
every way, the builders again continuing their operations. After having
worked the bottom of the cells of the first row into their proper
forms, they polish them, and give them their finish, while others begin
the outline of a new series.
"The cells themselves, or prisms, which result from the reunion and
meeting of the sides, are next constructed. These are engrafted on the
borders of the cavities hollowed in the mass. The bees begin them by
making the contour of the bottoms, which is at first unequal, of equal
height. Thus all the margins of the cells offer an uniformly level
surface from their first origin, and until they have acquired their
proper length. The sides are heightened in an order analogous to that
which the insects follow in finishing the bottom of the cells, and the
length of these tubes is so perfectly proportioned that there is no
observable inequality between them."
* * * * *
Thus writes the great Swiss observer of bees. Without quoting at
greater length from his published observations, we may give some
additional particulars relating to the geometrical characters of
honey-comb.
The cells of the first row laid down are pentagonal in shape. This
gives them a stronger attachment to the hive than if they had had
the hexagonal figure of the succeeding rows. But no form besides the
six-sided prism would have answered all the conditions of the problem
"how with the least expenditure of material to secure the greatest
available space with the best arrangement for the purposes to be
served."
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Diagram of Cells.]
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--Supposed Circular Cells.]
Approached from the purely theoretical side, the question has been
investigated by mathematicians. It requires no great acumen to
determine that a hexagon of some sort is the geometrical figure which
must be adopted. An equilateral triangle would make a very unsuitable
abode for an insect with a nearly round body. A square cell would
hardly be more convenient. A series of circles would, of course, leave
interstices between them, causing a useless expenditure of space,
material, time and strength. A further difficulty would arise with
regard to the storage of the honey, which finds points of attachment in
the angles of a hexagon, and so is less liable to run out of the cells.
[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Arrangement of Cells.]
The next matter then to settle is, the magnitude of the angles at
which the sides of the hexagon should slope towards each other, so as
to be the most advantageous. Réaumur put the problem in mathematical
language before M. König, a skilful geometrician, thus:--"To determine
by calculations what ought to be the angle of a hexagonal cell, with a
pyramidal bottom, formed of three similar and equal rhomboid plates,
so that the least matter possible might enter into its construction."
The result of his investigations was that the angles of the rhombs
must be 109° 26′ and 70° 34′. Cramer, professor of mathematics in the
University of Geneva, also undertook the problem. His calculations,
made on somewhat different principles from König's, gave for the
angles 109° 28′ 16″, and 70° 31′ 44″. Maraldi, a third mathematician,
assuming the equality of the angles of the trapezia forming the
sides of the hexagon adjacent to the rhombs and those of the rhombs
themselves, and that the solid angle at the apex of the pyramid,
composed of equal obtuse angles, is precisely equal to each of the
three angles at the base, also composed of three equal obtuse angles,
came to the conclusion that the angles must be 109° 28′ and 70° 32′.
These three sets of results, so remarkably accordant, when we consider
the minuteness of the differences between them, in figures so small as
the actual honey-comb cells, show the closest correspondence to the
actual measurements of the work of the bees. Maraldi found the angles
of the latter to be 110° and 70°, as nearly as could be ascertained.
We have dwelt at some length upon this point, because it illustrates,
in a most marvellous manner, the power of that inborn faculty we call
instinct, which arrives, without training, at results so precisely
agreeing with those of the highest efforts of our intellectual
reasonings. To the devout mind, the conclusion is inevitable that
Divine Wisdom is the inspiring force which energizes the mental
operations of the bees in their cell-building.
A further advantage of the actual shape of the honey-comb prisms is
that, thereby, strength is combined with economy. No other form would
so efficiently have carried the heavy weights constantly stored in the
forms of honey, brood, and bee-bread.
The bottoms and sides of the cells are made of wax as thin as a sheet
of writing-paper; but as walls of this thinness at the entrances would
break down under the weight of the constantly passing insects, the
margin at the opening of each cell is made four or five times thicker
than the walls. Then, as the cells are lengthened, this thickness is
reduced, always remaining the same, however, at the actual margins.
Dr. Barclay also discovered that, though the tenuity of the divisions
is so great, each, in point of fact, consists of two distinct layers
agglutinated together. This gives, again, an increase of strength, as
any practical builder would know who, in his "bressummers," adopts
the same method of attaining lightness and power of sustaining great
weights.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Diagram Showing Slope of Cells.]
The actual size of the cells in a hive varies considerably, as we might
expect. Without regarding those for queen-progeny, we should anticipate
that those in which young drones are to be developed would be
considerably larger than those prepared for workers. This is, indeed,
the case. But as an abrupt change from the one kind to the other would
be impossible without waste, the bees prudently graduate the difference
by interposing a suitable series of intermediate sizes, whose bottoms,
of course, have to depart from the normal conditions, and sometimes
consist of two rhomboids and two hexagons, varying in size and form,
and corresponding with four, instead of three, opposite cells. In
these, stores are often found, instead of brood. If eggs are laid in
them, they are generally those which will develop into males, and the
space for development being smaller than usual, the drones occupying
such cells are not so large as the average size.
As a rule, the hexagonal ends of twenty-seven worker cells, or nineteen
drone cells, occupy a surface of one square inch. All the cells lie
not quite horizontally, but sloping slightly downwards from the mouth
towards the bases. This arrangement is designed to prevent the honey
from easily flowing out. As the cells are filled with the liquid, the
lower edge of each is first raised, and, in due time, the whole of the
once open end is sealed over with a coating of wax mixed with a little
propolis. This covering not only keeps the contents from running out,
but prevents fermentation or candying, from contact with the air.
Each comb consists of a double layer of cells, back to back, and
forming a sort of flat cake. At first this is lenticular in shape, the
middle part being advanced rather more rapidly than the ends.
It is a curious fact that the bees do not, on being put into a hive, or
when working in a bell-glass, begin several combs at once; but, having
thoroughly laid the foundation of one, and having made some progress
with this, they then start one on each side of the first, and, after
a time, one on the outer side of each of the last begun. Usually,
therefore, the combs hang in parallel series. If any obstruction
occurs, a deviation from the normal direction takes place, but,
manifest intelligence is shown in surmounting the difficulty, whatever
it may be.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Arrangement of Combs in a Bell-Glass.]
At first, the substance of the cells is of a dull, semi-transparent,
white colour, soft, and very brittle. After a time, a yellow tinge
spreads over the comb, and, with age, this hue deepens to brown, and if
some years old, becomes almost black. The colour, therefore, furnishes
a tolerably safe guide as to the age of comb. The darkening seems due,
partly to a chemical change from contact with the air, but still more
to the constant traffic of the bees over it, and its getting smeared
with dirt and propolis.
It occasionally happens that, owing to a great in-flow of honey, the
weight of the combs endangers their security, and the bees, seeing
the danger of their breaking down, resort to a most clever method
of rendering their treasures safe. Gnawing away a small part of the
topmost row of the combs on one side, they lay a broader foundation,
and then, with a strongly glutinous mixture of wax and propolis, they
fasten afresh the upper cells to their points of attachment. Having
completed one side, they then proceed in the same way with the other,
till they are satisfied of the firmness of the whole structure.
Again, if the supply of food outruns the capacity of their store-houses
as first made, they will often lengthen the cells, till, especially in
the case of _supers_, they reach the length of even two inches--more
than twice the normal size.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--The Queen Cell.]
The _queen-cells_ are remarkably distinguished from those for workers
or drones, in respect to size, direction, shape, and amount of
material. They occupy at least as much space as half a dozen ordinary
cells. They are directed downwards, instead of lying horizontally. They
are irregularly oval or pyriform in shape, and are made up of a sort
of mosaic of wax, which material, so sparingly used elsewhere, seems
lavished on the royal nurseries. The reasons for this are, probably,
to secure the young queens from danger while passing through the
larval and pupal conditions, and to keep up the warmth necessary for
their more rapid development. Wax being a very bad conductor of heat,
the thick walls prevent the chilling of the brood, and, at the same
time, allow of considerable clustering of nurse-bees, and consequent
generation of warmth, without the danger of the cells being broken down
by the pressure.
[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Queen Cells in Situ.]
Bees-wax forms a not unimportant article of commerce. From Germany,
Greece, Cyprus, and still more largely from North America, we derive
what is needed to make up the deficiency in our home production of it.
Its uses are numerous. For household purposes, especially for polishing
furniture, for some varnishes and unguents, for candles and matches,
for modelling, particularly in dentistry, it is consumed in great
quantities. Since the introduction of paraffin and similar substances
for lighting purposes, the amount used for candles has diminished,
though the demand for it in other directions does not appear to have
fallen off. Bee-keepers now use it greatly for "foundation-comb."