The history of using bee products in the New World is very old and
definitely predates the "discovery" of America by Europeans or Asians. It is
closely associated with gold working, through the use of the "lost wax"
method of casting. This method was invented independently by artisans all
over the world who had facility with metals and beeswax. Colombia was a
great center of art and culture for thousands of years.


From its probable origins in the northern Central Andean Area about 700 bc,
metalworking spread to the Intermediate Area and finally was transmitted to
Mesoamerica about ad 1000. Because of European greed for gold and silver,
most unburied or unhidden objects of these materials were melted down by the
Spanish conquerors and exported to Spain as ingots. Although iron and steel
were unknown, copper was widely worked and the alloying of bronze was
discovered about ad 1000. Tumbaga, an alloy of copper and gold, was employed
in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. Many techniques were used for working metal,
including the lost-wax process, soldering, and repoussé or embossing.
Metalwork was frequently engraved, gilded, or inlaid with various stones and
shells.

Peoples of highland Colombia, such as the Tairona, produced beautiful
gold-and-copper ornaments and religious objects using the lost-wax
technique. The artisan would mold a beeswax core in the shape of an animal
or a human, enclose this figure in clay, and then pour molten gold mixed
with copper through a hole in the clay. The molten metal replaced the wax,
which melted away. After the metal had cooled the clay was broken away to
reveal the object.

In the rich cemetery at Malagana near the modern town of Palmira in
Colombia's Cauca Valley, the elite are buried in full sets of regalia made
of gold and semi-precious stones. Grand diadems, pectorals, and arm and leg
ornaments with repoussé decoration adorn the dead. Hundreds of gold necklace
beads in myriad forms that include birds, insects, and human figures are
worn. Many are made by the lost-wax casting technique. Note: around 200 B.C.

In the Southwest [USA], archaeologists have found prehistoric copper bells
produced through an advanced casting process known as the lost-wax
technique. Dating from as early as ad 900, these bells are believed to have
been obtained in trade from Mexico rather than made locally.

Cire Perdue (French, "lost wax"), process of wax casting used in making
metal sculpture. A model is coated with wax. The solidified wax is encased
in a two-layer mold of plaster or clay. It is then melted or otherwise
removed from the mold, and metal is poured into the space where the wax had
been. After cooling, the mold is broken to free the metal object. This
ancient method is used to produce sculpture, jewelry, and utilitarian
products such as dentures.

SEE

THE SACRED BEE IN ANCIENT TIMES AND FOLKLORE. by Hilda M Ransome
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1937.

This book has been reissued by Dover
http://store.doverpublications.com/index.html

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