>  Could it be russian's collect wax and euro's don't? =
>Or is it that Im not too observant and bees collect wax in certain =
>situations?

Bees do not collect wax.  They manufacture it.  Tiny scales are produced
between abdominal segments I believe (not positive about the location
without looking it up) and manipulated to the mouthparts.

As to recycling of wax, I believe they do a certain amount of
this.  However I have never seen them going outside the hive to get any
burr comb which may be discarded.

Have you ever noticed the brownish mark where bees are gaining entrance for
robbing.  This is composed mostly of wax particles.  The robber bees first
action on reaching the sunlight seems to be to groom their faces of wax
particles gotten where they were chewing into comb.

Regards,
Stan