>>> ... old brood combs are heavily impregnated with silk which is inseparable from the wax except by chemical or heat treatments.
<><><> I now postulate the questions: Does this 'silk' have any properties of which we are ignorant which would be beneficial to human society if it could be duplicated and mass produced. Could it bee super strong such as carbon fibre? Could it have antiseptic properties such as we've recently discovered applies to propolis covered walls? With the protective covering of the cell walls why is this 'cocoon' spun by the larvae? Is this a protective mechanism or is it just a holdover from previous ages of species development?
Mike in LA
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