. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. Production of Wax and Comb. Tliis subject is an intensely interesting study. Before the time of Huber, it was generally supposed tliat wax was made from bee-bread; but Huber fully demon- strated that bees could construct comb from honey without the aid of bee-bread. But, oxygen, being the support of animal heat, is essential to bees while building comb, because an extraordinary amount of heat must be generated to enable them to soften the wax and mould it into such delicate forms. We herewith present a cut of the under surface of tlie Bee, showing the
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. Production of Wax and Comb. Tliis subject is an intensely interesting study. Before the time of Huber, it was generally supposed tliat wax was made from bee-bread; but Huber fully demon- strated that bees could construct comb from honey without the aid of bee-bread. But, oxygen, being the support of animal heat, is essential to bees while building comb, because an extraordinary amount of heat must be generated to enable them to soften the wax and mould it into such delicate forms. We herewith present a cut of the under surface of tlie Bee, showing the wax forma- tions between the segments:. Dr. Donhoff states that in new comb the thickness of the sides of the cells is but the 180th part of an inch ! Such delicate work is hardly conceivable ; and yet, bees often make it in the dark, on cool, cloudy days or in the night—appearing never to rest. Prof. Duncan, (professor of Geology), in King's College, London, in his work on the " Transformation of Insects," remarks as follows on this interesting subject: " The production of wax is one of the most remarkable physiological phenomena of the organization of these HyDienoptera. It was generally thought, formerly, that the bees disgorged their wax from the mouth, and Reaumur certainly held this opinion ; but John Hunter discovered the manner in which the wax was formed ; and it is now evident that the bees carry within them- selves this important building material.— The segments of the abdomen of bees over- lap from before backwards, but when the margin of one is lifted up, two broad and smooth surfaces will be noticed on the vnicovered surface of the next wing; these surfaces maintain during one part of the year two thin, white, and almost transpar- ent laminae, which are really composed of wax. The wax is really secreted oy some small glands which are within the abtlomen, and it transudes through the soft and smooth integument between the rings or segments. It w
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
