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Material Properties of Scale and Comb Wax

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Honeybee Nests

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Abstract

Although the honeybee nest begins with the conversion of wax scales into combs, these two materials differ in their chemistry, crystal structure, tensile strength and stiffness which, in turn, are modified by honeybee secretions during comb-building. The strength of wax scales is about the same at temperatures between 25 and 35 °C, but declines above 35 °C; in contrast, comb wax is weaker and progressively decreases in strength with increasing temperature. The relative workability of wax scale is about the same between 25 and 45 °C, but it is the converse with comb wax. Wax scales are stronger and more distensible, but less stiff than comb wax at 35 °C, and require more energy to work than comb. The reworking of constructed comb is significantly more cost-effective than starting comb-building from scratch. Salvaging old comb wax is also energetically advantageous. Differences in the mechanical properties of scale and comb wax show that comb-building involves chemical modification of the waxes. The relative amounts and kinds of lipids affect comb stiffness amongst species. Likewise, differing kinds and amounts of protein in the waxes affect their mechanical properties. Highly-textured scales are converted from an anisotropic into an isotropic state. Lipases added during chewing modify the lipid composition of the scale in which stiffness is lost, but regained with the addition of proteins in comb-building. Beeswaxes are crystalline, the crystallites in wax scales are aligned, some perpendicular to the surface, others between 62° and 65° to the surface. Their origin is probably due to a fusion of the liquid products reaching the surface from the different cells in the wax gland complex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    H. R. Hepburn

  2. Social Insect Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    C. W. W. Pirk

  3. King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand

    O. Duangphakdee

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  1. H. R. Hepburn
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  2. C. W. W. Pirk
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  3. O. Duangphakdee
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Correspondence to H. R. Hepburn .

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Hepburn, H.R., Pirk, C.W.W., Duangphakdee, O. (2014). Material Properties of Scale and Comb Wax. In: Honeybee Nests. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54328-9_14

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