dan hendricks wrote:
>
> Bill, if there is little contact between the honey and the wax to permit the wax to "clean" the honey, there is litttle contact to permit the honey to take up contaminants, to "clean", the wax.  Dan

I assume I am the Bill this is addressed to. The contaminants do not
have to come from the wax. In fact, in all probability they come from
the bees and are mechanically introduced into the honey just by the bee
entering the cell with its honey load. In the case of contact
pesticides, they are on the bee and will be spread to whatever the bee
comes in contact with, including pollen, honey and wax. Which is the
primary point. The contaminant first has to be introduced into the hive.
Then it has to make its way to the cell. Then we can start talking about
all the relationships between wax, honey and surface area. Since the bee
comes in more contact with the wax than honey, all things being equal,
there will be more in the wax than honey. Add greater solubility for the
wax, and the weight shifts even more toward it.

The original issue was does the wax clean the honey and it would appear
not to, based on Barry's comments.

One question I have is what honey are we talking about? If it is not
brood box honey, but that being sold commercially, then there is a major
problem here, especially if it is ppm and not ppb. I assume it is brood
box honey, which would be more apt to be contaminated. Maybe Barry can
clear this up.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME