>
> >Randy, have you actually sent wax and bees to Gastonia for a broad
> spectrum analysis, or are you assuming clean environments?


Haven't sent wax to Gastonia, but did send a bee sample once--the detect
sheet came back blank.  I thought that Roger had made a mistake, but he
confirmed that there were zero detects.

I fully understand that my beeswax would likely contain residues. But
Charlie's original question was, are the chemicals in wax are really a
problem?

Foundation wax has long contained pesticide and pollutant residues--an old
sample for which I obtained the analysis results contained DDT and PCBs.
If bees fly through the air and pick up dust, then residues of every
chemical on Earth will be found in beeswax at some low level.

So the answer to Charlie's question is really about relevance to baseline.
When asked by potential buyers whether my honey is organic, I answer, "It
is as organic as the air you breathe."

My point is that that the answer to Charlie's question is whether the
residues in wax have an adverse effect above and beyond that of background
environmental exposure.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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