The capping wax is the freshest available and absorbs fewer contaminants brought on by the bees’ feet.Ĭandlemakers use only wax from cappings as it looks the cleanest and emits the strongest fragrance.Īt Premier Bee Products, we know how important the quality of beeswax is to a colony, which is why we also coat Premier Foundation with 100% pure capping wax. The cleanest, most fragrant beeswax is the wax that has spent the least amount of time in the hive: cappings. It follows that this scent must be potent - the right kind of potent, with the right properties - to trigger worker bees to begin drawing comb. We have established that scent is the most important factor of beeswax in enticing bees to draw comb on a foundation. If you can smell the difference, your bees will notice it 100 times!Īll of this is to say, the quality of the wax you apply to your foundation is just as important, if not more, as the quantity. Notice, for instance, how darker comb wax has a weaker scent than fresh capping wax. Over time, these contaminants wear down the fresh hive scents emitted from the beeswax. (Side-but-related note: The scent of beeswax is commonly used as bait to attract swarms of bees further evidence of its powerful effect, even from miles away.)įrom a chemist’s perspective, beeswax is like a natural sponge: it soaks up many of the compounds it comes into contact with. It is through their keen sense of smell that they detect beeswax and determine what to do with it. It’s also expensive - a single pound of wax involves the work of roughly 450 bees.Ĭonsidering the value of beeswax, it makes sense that bees have developed a strong ability to identify it. Looking at it from a biologist’s perspective, beeswax is an important material to the survival of a colony. What is it about beeswax that allures bees? And are there differences in the types of beeswax and how it’s accepted? The reason being, honey bees are generally indifferent about a plain piece of plastic in their hives, so the beeswax serves to entice the bees to draw out comb on the foundation. Most beekeepers have heard to coat their foundations with beeswax. Look no further than the existence of pure beeswax candles. (Quick definition: A pheromone is any compound with a signal function that is produced by an animal.)Įven humans, with 1% of the smelling power of bees, grasp the attractive scent of beeswax. What purpose does this heightened sense of smell serve the colony? It’s improbable that we have discovered them all (or ever will), but here are a few demonstrated examples: Their sense of smell is so strong, in fact, that some medical researchers have used it to sniff out diseases like cancer and diabetes. Not only is the honey bee’s sense of smell stronger than most other insects’, but it is about 100 times more sensitive than humans’. (Surprisingly, the same study found that a bee’s sense of taste is worse by comparison.) A 2006 study discovered that honey bees ( Apis mellifera) have a lot more odor receptors than their fellow insects - 170 receptors in honey bees compared to 62 in fruit flies and 79 in mosquitos. We largely know that a bee’s sense of smell is important based on its anatomy. There’s a saying in biology that “structure determines function.” Researchers often begin studying something novel by looking at its structure and making predictions about its relevance to the organism. It’s well known that olfaction (sense of smell) is important to bees.īut just how important is it? And how can beekeepers leverage an understanding of the concept to better their colonies?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |