Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/762

 WAX

WAX

fccareft them, to which they perfectly faw the way. TBefedld not fly upwards, ns all the others did.

The hairs of the bee are of different ufc from that of the hairs of other animals, and therefore all this varied ftructure was nccellary. See the article Honey.

The legs of the bee are fix; tlie two anterior pairs are of the fame length ;. but the two hinder legs, or pofterior pair, are confiderably longer than the others.. Each leg is compofed of five principal pieces 3 of thefe,. that next the origin is thicker and thorter than- any of the others. This is a fort of conic button, to the end of which the fecond piece is articulated ;. ftiis is muchtongcr-and thicker in the middle, and thinner at dach end ; the third piece of the leg in the hinder pair is differ- ent from that of the others ;- it is flat and of a triangular fi- gure,' and is called: by Reaumur and' other French authors, palette tridngulairs. This is articulated withthe fecond piece by its point,., and with the fourth by its broad part. This third piece in the fecond pair of legs is much lefs flat and tri- aivmlar than in the hinder pair ; and in the firft pair it is fcarce at all fo.' The fourth- piece in the two hinder pairs of legs is alfo broad' and- flat ;.but it is not triangular, but of a Rjuare figure. The French writers call this the brojp. This h much larger and broader on the hinder pair of legs than. on the fecond, and in the firft it is not at all of this flatted : or fquare figure, but is cyliixiric and {lender. The. fifth piece

■ of each leg is what ir.'ay be calleaS the foot. It is arvextremely tine part,. and is compofed of fine joints* placed -dole to one

■ another. T&e four anterior pieces are a fort of truncated cones, a Htdc flatted, and are joined- by the bate of. the fir ft to the head of the fecond^. and fo- on-: The laft piece is- long, flender, and cylindric, and is terminated? by two hooks re- fembling the daws of a birds* One of thefe is twice as long as the other, and between thefe two claws there is placed a fiefhy protuberance covered with hairs, of the nature of that of the feet of the flies \ by means of which- they are able to Climb upon p-lals, or other imooth bodies.- Reaumur's- ti'iH. Inf. vol. 9. p. 368.

The firft joint of all the legs of the bee is covered with' the foliated hairs before-mentioned ;. the fecond piece has (trait hairs, and the third piece, or palette on the hinder pair,, is fo befet with large and {lift" hairs all round its edges, and fo hol- lowed in its anterior part near the bottom, that it refembles a ' Jbrt of bafket, and it is made for that very purpofe, fervmg the creature as a fort of bafket to carry home its Wax im The third joint of the firft and fecond- pair of leg? has no

■ ittruexure like this ; and we find that it is- not in thofe legs ufed to the fame purpofes, it being only on the laft pair of legs that

■ die lumps of Wax are feen, when the bee is loaded with • them.- The fourth piece of the two hinder pair of legs,


 * which the French call- the brojje, or the brufh r and which is

of a lrjuare figure, ferves the creature in the place of a brufh, and is in reality formed fcmewhat like one. The outer fur- face of this is convex- and fmooth, the inner is concave and

■ hairy, and the hairs on this part do not -Itand fmgly, but are placed in little tufts, wider air the extremity than at their ori-

" gin, and exactly r-efembling the tufts of hair in our clothes- brufhes. Reaumur, H\ih }nf. vol. 9, p. 369.

- The fevera] authors who- have treated ever fo largely on the arts and induftr-y of bees, and defcribed the manner of form- ing their waxen ifructures or combs for the reception of their Honey, have yet omitted to clear up the material point of what that Wax is, what it is originally compofed of, and by what artifice the bee works it out of its rough Hate,- in the plant in ■which it is found, into the fubftance which we call Wax. It is very certain that the farina fiecundans of the flowers of plants, contained in their apices, is the matter of which the bees form their Wa»% they either diflodge this from its cells with their teeth, or etfe merely by rubbing their bodies among the {lamina and apices, load themfclves with the globules of it, which their hairs keep flicking upon their body, and which, they afterwards brufh off- with- their legs,- and, by degrees, collect into balls- or Sumps, which they depnfit upon the flat

■ and triangular piece, which makes the third joint of the bin-- tier pair of their legs.

The lumps of IVax with which we fee them loaded in.

' this part, and carrying to their hives, is only the farina of Sowers worked up andcomprefiul into a mafs or fort of cake.

' The ftamina of the flowers- therefore fuftain certain cafes,.

' containing a powder,- which is the matter of bees Wax. This powder,, thus collected into lumps on the legs of the bees, is called rough Wax, and is probably Wax to all intents and purpofes,- only wanting a little beating together. Wax r

' therefore,, fo long efteemed an animal fubftance, will appear to be a native vegetable production. We know very well,.

■ that different fpecics of trees yield us the feveral gums and re- fins ufed in medicine and mechanics, in tbe fame per feci: form in which we fee and ul'e them ; and there is a fpecies of fhrub, very well known in America, and called the candle- berry-tree, the berries of which yield a Wax perfect in all refpecls, and fit for the making candles, &c. -without having pailed through the manufacture of the bee at all. In the fame manner it feems that all our common plants pro-

' duce Wax in their flowers, but that this is in fuch very (mall quantities'- that thefe -little animals alone are able to collect

and work it into a ftatc fit for our ufe : but this does not abso- lutely hold good ; for if we examine what we call rough Wax v that is, the balls of ivaxey matter on the legs of the bees, we fhall find that it is not yet bees Wax. It is an cafy matter to catch a few bees as they return in a morning loaded to the hive, and on feparating the waxcy matter from their legs, and prefiing it between the thumb and a finger, it will be found- to> differ greatly from perfect Wax, This would, in a like cafe,, foften of kfclf, and form a regular and uniform flat cake;, whereas, on the contrary, the matter from the bees legs is. friable, not ductile, will not ("often itfelf between the fingers ^ and when prefied a little to a fhtnefs, it is fecn to be ft ill com- pofed of regular globules, which ail retain their priftine form,. not mixing or blending among one another, and hanging to- gether only by means of fome humidity which hangs about their furfaces. If it be tried by a greater, warmth, it will be found in the fame manner to differ from Wax, in the want of" fome of its eflential qualities. If a piece of it be put into- at filvcr (boon, and held over lighted charcoal, it will not melt as IVax would do, but will take fire and burn regularly into a. cinder : and finally, if it be carefully worked into a long- thread, and the end of it put to the flame of a candle, it will take fire as readily as Wax would do, but it will not run or melt like it, but burn like a piece of drv wood- Water alfo gives as evident a proof of the difference between the rough. Wax and the perfect,; as fire. If a piece of this rough Wax y as taken from the legs of the bee, be thrown into water, it finks to the bottom ; whereas perfect Wax will always (wim* upon the top :: This might feem owing to the great humidity of the rough Wax, while loaded with the juices of the plant ;, but it is proved by experiment that this is not the cafe ; for if" the rough Wax be kept till everfo perfectly dry, it ftill pre- ferves its own nature, and will fink in water as readily as as firft. Reaumur's Hiii. Inf. vol. 10. p. 30. From the whole then it is evident, that the bee does fome- thing to the matter of which Wax is made, in order to ther reducing it into perfect Wax. It might be fuppofed that the feveral globules of this matter were fo many facks containing, the true Wax ; and that the bee need only break or open thofe facks, to get at the true and genuine Wax within ; but this does not appear to be the cafe upon experiment, iince if this matter be ever fo nicely and carefully pounded and broke to pieces, it does not become any more Wax for this treat- ment, nor is any more fufible or ductile than before. The: opinion of Swammerdam and Maraldi was, that the bee added fome other matter to the rough Wax, in order to re- duce it to this proper Hate. And as there is no fubftance fo> ready for the bee as honey, they fuppofed that the mixed ho- ney with this matter, and fo made ffl&x of the compound^ but experiment is alfo wholly againfttbis, fincc if honey, -anti this matter collected from the. bees, be mixed in any propor- tions, the compound has no more the properties of Wax that* it had before, but ftill remains .a quite different fubftance- Swammerdam afterwards fell into another opinion,, in regard to the matter mixed with the rough Wax, i-n order to render it perfect: ; this was, that the bee mixed with it the venomous liquor, of which {he has a bag full near the tail, in order to poifon the wounds made by her fting. Kc made fome 'expe- riments on this plan, which he thought favoured his fyftem, 3 and endeavours to ftrengthen the probability, by obferving,., that as the fling of a bee comes but very little into ufe, it would not have been neceffary that the creature fhould have been thus conftantly fupplied with a large bag of this matter,. If nature had not allotted to it fome other ufe befide that re- garding the fting. This opinion prevailed among the learned,, till Mr. Reaumur of late proved by experiments, that this li- quor had- no effect on the matter found on. the thighs of the bee, as to the turning it into Wax;, and alfo, that feveral crea- tures which make no true genuine Wax, fuch as the humble bee, the wafp, and the hornet,, whole combs are made o£ a fort of paper, yet have all this bag of liquor near their fting. Jt is molt probable, that the method in which the bees tun* the farina of flowers into Wax, is a very fimplc one ; and molt likely it confifts only in a fort of beating the quantities o£ them, which they collect, till they are very thoroughly united. We have never been able yet to difcover their manner of do- ing it ; but this appears molt like the courfe of nature, in the operations of other infe£ts ; if this be the cafe, it would be poffible,. perhaps, for us to imitate their method, and procure for ourfelves Wait out of the- ftamina of flowers j this would be a difcovery of the utmoft importance : For though at pre feat the bees which work it for us coft us nothing in keeping, yet it is to be obferved, that they are too few in number to collect fo much as we might wifh. Doubtlefs it is not one thoufandth part of the waxey matter, produced only by a few plants, that the bees of a whole province collect, while the reft all falls to the ground, and is loft. If we could arrive at the way of converting the farina of flowers into Wax^ without the affiitanee of the bee, we misiht have it in infinitely larger quantities ; fince children might be taught to beat off, or (hake down, the farina from numbers of plants, which, when, in full flower, would yield a much greater quantity than could be expected by thofe who arc not converfant in thefe Stu- dies,

Ths