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Date: | Thu, 1 Apr 2021 18:34:01 -0400 |
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Once the virgin scales have been fashioned into pristine comb, many more physical
and chemical transformations of the nest material occur. The first hint of such
changes is contained in the casual observation of Huber (1814) that the very white
wax of new combs seemed more brittle than that of the stronger and more pliable
yellow combs. He also noted that bees add propolis (whose origin from plants he
rediscovered independently of Hornbostel 1744) to wax both in. bulk and as a surface
varnish which he thought reinforced the combs.
There is no dispute about the progressive changes in comb colour particularly associated
with the rearing of several cycles of brood in the nest. The new, white cells
progress through yellow, various shades of brown and finally become a very dark
brownish-black. This is the usual sequence of colour changes.. The blackness
is said to derive partially from larval excrements and from propolis, but the chemical
identity of the pigments has not been resolved.
Hepburn, H. R. (1986). Metamorphosis of wax. In Honeybees and Wax (pp. 80-92). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
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