In their book “Beeswax” Coggshall & Morse mention wax production has been tried.
Here’s a short quote:

“Some years ago a temperature and humidity controlled room was built to try to force
artificial swarms fed sugar syrup to produce and discard wax scales instead of using
them to build comb (Coggshall, unpublished). This proved to be a frustrating
experience for bees and experimenter alike. The low humidity required to help the
bees get rid of water without resorting to flight caused crystallization of sugar syrup
no matter how it was fed. From this experience it was concluded that efficient forced
production using caged bees was impractical. We have serious doubts that
beekeepers will ever be able to increase the wax production of their colonies in any
practical way.”

Regards,
Dick Allen

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::