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In tests to develop a high quality, low cost diet for rearing the greater wax moth for egg production, it was found that both beeswax and honey increased cost without increasing egg production. Yeast was a desirable constituent and Wheast® was superior to baker's yeast or brewer's yeast. Wheast could be reduced to ca. 3% without adverse effects. A mixture of bran, cornmeal, and wheat flour resulted in less expensive egg production than baby cereal or a mixture of CSM® and CSMA®. Optimum proportions were: liquid to dry ingredients, 40/60; glycerin to water in the liquid ingredients, 35/65; bran to a 50/50 mixture of cornmeal and wheat flour in the dry ingredients, 40/60.

Laboratory and field experiments were carried out to study the toxicity of 3:5 dinitro-ortho-cresol and its sodium salt to the honey bee.The acid DNOC was shown to be a rapidly acting poison under a wide variety of conditions and its toxicity was not greatly affected by differences in temperature or humidity during or after treatment.Although both the acid and salt were equally toxic as stomach poisons, considerable differences were observed between the two substances as aqueous sprays and dry films. The toxicity of the sodium salt as an aqueous spray was considerably influenced by the humidity of the environment after spraying; the higher the humidity the greater the kill.The sodium salt was apparently non-toxic as a dry film and increasing the humidity of the environment had no effect until the saturation point was reached and the salt went into solution. At this point the salt was almost as rapid in action as the acid. The type of surface on which the film was deposited was also shown to affect the toxicity.Experiments were carried out on the penetration of the two substances through beeswax and these confirmed that whilst the acid could penetrate the beeswax in all forms tested the salt would only penetrate in aqueous solution.

Die Untersuchungen uber die oxydative Bleichung von Wachsen — unter besonderer Berucksichtigung des Bienenwachses — zeigten, das eine weitgehende Bleichung u. U. unerwunschte Nachteile fur die weitere Verwendung mit sich bringen kann. Oxidative Bleaching of Waxes, Particularly of Beeswax The experiments on the oxidative bleaching of waves — under special consideration of the beeswax — showed that under certain circumstances through an extensive bleaching undesirable disadvantages for the further application may appear.

Larvae of Galleria mellonella grow as well on a semi-synthetic diet if sugar or carbohydrate, optimally present to the extent of 30 to 40 per cent of the diet as originally developed, is replaced entirely or in part by white beeswax. Myricin, a refined product of beeswax consisting largely of long-chain esters of palmitic acid and myricyl alcohol, was utilized as well as beeswax, but none of several simple fatty acids and alcohols, ranging in chain length from C14 to C30, nor four esters of palmitic acid, were effective substitutes for beeswax.

Die in zahlreichen alteren Veroffentlichungen angegebenen chemischen Kennzahlen von Bienenwachs (SZ, VZ, EZ und Verh.-Z) schwanken nicht nur innerhalb einer, sondern verschiedener Provenienz in rel. grosen Grenzen. Die Bestimmung der SZ und VZ von Bienenwachs wird einer eingehenden Untersuchung unterworfen, um die Ursache dieser Schwankungen zu deuten. An Hand jahrelanger, eigener Untersuchungen von Bienenwachs verschiedener Provenienz wird eine Ubersicht uber die chemischen Kennzahlen und den Eigenparaffin-Gehalt als zusatzliches Kriterium gegeben, um bei der Handelsanalyse besser beurteilen zu konnen, ob ein Bienenwachs rein oder verfalscht ist. Beeswax — Analysis and Characteristic Values The chemical characteristics of beeswax (acid, saponification and ester values) as given in numerous older literature vary rather widely within the samples of same origin as well as within those from various sources. In order to account for these variations, the procedures for the determination of acid and saponification values of beeswax were subjected to a thorough investigation. For a better assessment of beeswax regarding purity and adulteration the chemical characteristics and paraffin content of the same, based on long term investigations of the author on beeswax of various origins, are taken as additional criteria of purity.

In the evaluation of syphilis therapy with penicillin, it has become increasingly evident that the optimum treatment schedule has not yet been determined. The questions of solution versus delayed absorption or excretion preparations, continuous or discontinuous treatment, time interval, etc., are still the subjects of extensive laboratory and clinical investigation.

Methods for the determination of acid, ester, hydroxyl, and ketone (or aldehyde) groups and of mean molecular weights of small samples of natural waxes are reported. Complete analyses can be made on 0.5 g. of sample. A simplified procedure for quantitative separation of acid and unsaponifiable fractions of a wax is also reported. Molecular distillations of beeswax, caranda wax, crude and refined candelilla wax, and ouricury wax, have fractionated these complex mixtures into simpler ones. Hydrocarbons and free unsubstituted alcohols and acids, if present, distil readily at 150°C. A pot still suitable for convenient molecular distillation of up to 100-g. charges of waxes or other high melting materials is described. A method for the calculation of composition of unhydrolyzed waxes based upon function group analysis of molecular distillation fractions is described. Results of application of this method to the waxes distilled are reported and show the ubiquitousness of hydroxy acids. All of the above waxes and carnauba wax contain major proportions of esters of the hydroxy acids, and none contains as much as one-half simple esters of unsubstituted acids and alcohols.

This article describes briefly the methods of large-scale honey handling and packing in the U.S., and includes information on honey and beeswax production, and the import and export trade. The author is in the Department of Entomology of Cornell University, where Professor E. J. Dyce, first developed the ‘Dyce process’ for honey in 1931.

In previous reports from this laboratory (Ben-Amotz & Hoskins 1937; Hoskins & Ben-Amotz 1938), it has been shown that the amount of oil which is deposited when a given volume of an oil emulsion is sprayed upon a standard beeswax surface is influenced greatly by the nature and concentration of the accessory substance, often called the spreader, emulsifier or wetting agent. With blood albumin or hemoglobin, both of which enable the aqueous phase to wet the solid readily but which are relatively weak emulsifying agents, the oil deposit passes through a maximum at some intermediate concentration of the accessory substances. With sodium oleate, which possesses the above properties in the reciprocal ratio, there is a continuous decrease in oil deposit as more of the soap is used. A somewhat similar difference in the amounts of emulsion (oil plus aqueous phase) deposited is brought about by these accessory substances. With the proteins this increases as their concentrations increase, but sodium oleate over the range of concentration used (0 to 852 milligrams per gallon) has but little effect upon the amount of emulsion deposited.

IN PREVIOUS reports, we1 2 3 have shown that after a single injection of a suspension of calcium penicillin in beeswax and peanut oil, effective levels of penicillin can be maintained in the blood for ten to twelve hours, with excretion continuing in the urine for twenty-four to thirty-two hours. Clinical results3 , 4 have proved as satisfactory by this method of administration as by the method utilizing penicillin in saline solution, which necessitates multiple injections. The preparation most satisfactory for obtaining the above results has proved to be a suspension of 100,000 units of calcium penicillin in 4 per cent beeswax by volume . . .

An investigation has been made into the properties of the grease layer which waterproofs the cuticle of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. This grease changes slowly into a hard wax if stored in air. The melting-point rises during this process by 20° C. It is shown that the grease consists of a hard wax (m.p. 56° C.) dissolved in a ‘solvent’ which is liquid at room temperatures; there may be equal amounts of wax and of solvent. It is suggested that the series of paraffins and alcohols which probably compose the wax extend into the short-chain lengths, C8-C12 to provide the solvent. A micro-freezing-point method for determining the molecular weight of wax samples is described (based on Ramsay's method for aqueous solutions); the molecular weight of the solvent lies between 120 and 170, and of the hard wax--300-350. A method is also outlined for collecting large quantities of cockroach wax. Of a large range of lipophilic liquids, which dissolve waxes, only octane, decane, octyl and decyl alcohols are miscible in all proportions with insect waxes, and form synthetic greases with beeswax and with the hard wax of the cockroach. The surface-active properties of the natural and synthetic greases have been compared on a surface balance of novel design which is described in the Appendix. The two materials are remarkably similar; the surface balance has been used to confirm the size of the solvent molecules. An apparatus is described which enables the continuous measurement of water transport through an insect membrane in a water vapour/vapour gradient, and in the presence of other vapours. As opposed to the effect of the most organic wax solvents, the vapour of an octane-octyl alcohol mixture does not alter the permeability of a natural insect cuticle to water; exposure of an artificially waxed membrane to this vapour and water increases its impermeability. Evidence is provided for believing that octane-octyl alcohol mixtures will improve the waterproofness of most ‘imperfectly’ waxed membranes. The natural grease of the cockroach is a strong reducing agent, and evidence is produced for believing that the lipoid part is entirely saturated, but that it contains a small portion of substances resembling shellac. It is suggested that this represents the ‘cement’ layer of the cockroach cuticle. The importance of spreading agents with wax solubility in the formation of insect waterproof layers is discussed; it is suggested that the presence of a water-saturated substrate is an essential part of this process.

The radioactive carbon atom of sodium acetate - 2-C 14 injected into the body cavity of honey bees actively synthesizing wax was incorporated into the free acids and esters of the wax within a few hours. The specific activity of the wax was 5000 c.p.m.

SummaryA method is described for the use of groups of mice in serum level and excretion studies on penicillin.A slight prolongation of penicillin in the body of the mouse resulted from the intramuscular administration of a penicillin-albumin complex and a suspension of penicillin in peanut oil. When beeswax in 2, 3 and 5% concentration was added to the penicillin-peanut oil mixture the presence of penicillin in the body was greatly prolonged, the degree of prolongation being greater as the concentration of beeswax was increased.

Activated bleaching earth was tried as an adsorbent instead of silica gel for the thin-layer chromatography (TLC).Good results were obtained in TLC as well as in silica gel from following matter : 1. The mixture of stearyl alcohol, cholesterol and liquid paraffin.2. The mixture of sperm whale alcohols and cholesterol.3. Unsaponifiables obtained from woolwax, beeswax, insect wax and sperm whale oil.n-Hexane-ethyl ether (1/1, vol/vol) was better developer than other solvents tested.

1.1. Serum penicillin levels were studied in 138 patients following the intramuscular injection of a single dose of crystalline sodium penicillin G in aqueous solution or in peanut oil-beeswax suspension. 2.2. The aqueous solution was given at six dosage levels (0.15, 0.3, 0.6, 1.5, 3.0 and 10.0 mg./Kg.), totalling 18,000 to 1,200,000 units in the average adult. The median serum concentrations one-half, one, two, four, eight and twelve hours after the administration of penicillin at these varying dosages have been calculated and the pharmacologic significance of the resulting curves discussed. 3.3. Peanut oil-beeswax mixtures were given in dosages of 1.5, 3.0 and 10.0 mg./Kg. The high degree of variation in individual lots precluded a discussion of average or median serum concentrations provided by the preparations currently available. 4.4. Tables are presented which enable the physician to determine either the frequency at which a given dose should be injected or the dosage of penicillin which should be given at stated intervals in order to maintain a given concentration of penicillin in the plasma.

The author of this paper was Secretary of the University of London School of Slavonic and East European Studies from 1932 to 1960. She has applied the knowledge and working methods she learned there, to a study of contemporary historical sources which throw light on Russian beekeeping in the Middle Ages and earlier. This study has just been published (pages 49, 98). Miss Galton recently moved to Norfolk, and there she became interested in the activities of the port of Kings Lynn in mediaeval times. Her interest was heightened when she found evidence of a direct link with Russian beekeeping. Some of the beeswax which she had traced from its production in Russian forests to the wax traders in Novgorod had apparently been imported into England at Lynn. The details presented in this article throw new light on the extensive European trade in beeswax in the Middle Ages.

This review deals, with waxes of members of two quite different groups of insects, the bees and the scale insects, which secrete large amounts of wax. The former use was as a structural material and the latter as a protective material. The compositions of waxes from some of these insects are described and particular attention is paid to the compositions of the unhydrolyzed waxes and to the presence of hydroxy acids. New analyses of beeswax and of wax of a species of bumble bee are reported. The structures of the diesters, hydroxyesters and diols of beeswax are elucidated. The bumble bee wax contains major proportions of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, and of long chain saturated, mono- and diunsaturated esters. The relationship between structure and function of the waxes is discussed.

Beeswax has been separated into hydrocarbons (14%), monoesters (35%), diesters (14%), triesters (3%), hydroxy monoesters (4%), hydroxypolyesters (8%), free acids (12%), acid monoesters (1%), acid polyesters (2%) and unidentified material (7%). The esters have been identified by thin layer chromatography, gas liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by comparison with synthetic mono-, di- and triesters, hydroxy mono- and diesters and acid esters. The compositions of the acids, hydroxy acids, alcohols and diols from each ester fraction have been determined by gas liquid chromatography. The major hydroxy acid (70%) obtained on hydrolysis was 15-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid, other hydroxy acids were 14-hydroxyhexadecanoic, 16-hydroxyoctadecanoic, 17-hydroxyoctadecanoic, 19-hydroxyeicosanoic, 21-hydroxydocosanoic and 23-hydroxytetracosanoic acids. The diols were 1,23-tetracosanediol, 1,25-hexacosanediol, 1,27-octacosanediol and 1,29-triacontanediol. Minor amounts of α, ω-C 24 -C 28 diols were also detected. The hydroxy acids and diols were mixtures of d - and l -isomers with the l -isomer predominating.

Calorimetric analysis was used to determine heats of transition and fusion of waxes between 0 and 100 C. In general, hydrocarbon waxes had higher total heats of transition than did ester waxes. Calorimetric measurements on binary mixtures showed that carnauba and beeswax interacted with paraffin, the former having the greater effect.

BEESWAX, a material of great stability, is an important protective and adhesive material which is being used extensively in the conservation of works of art. It is usually combined with various substances into mixtures with improved qualities and better suited to particular requirements, such as relining, transfer, and gap-filling. At least two investigations [I] have been devoted to the properties and possibilities of beeswax, whether alone or in mixtures with strengthening and plasticizing materials. Though there has been no evidence that the commonly used beeswax-resin mixtures are unsatisfactory, it was considered that the presence in them of natural resins justified a search for alternatives. Two possibilities suggest themselves: the substitution of a more stable resin for the colophony or dammar, and the introduction of an inert filler. To this end a series of tests were carried out at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the summer of 1952 on a range of beeswax-estergum mixtures to which had been added varying amounts of whiting (fine calcium carbonate).

The conservation of non-metallic seals is an aspect of archival conservation which is all too often neglected.The authors show the most usual causes and forms of damage together with various methods of treatment. Among the aspects discussed are composition and manufacture; cleaning and repair of single and double-faced seals made of beeswax, shellac and other thermoplastic compounds; the conservation and repair of papered seals, together with seals and wafers applied en placard to documents; and methods of packing and storage used in the University of Glasgow Archives.