They do, but in order for them to regurgitate, they first must gorge upon it. They eat it, chew it up and spit it out in the shapes necessary (planar, cylindrical, or otherwise).
i think most people at some point hear that honey is basically bee vomit, and thus passively assume wax works the same way. Plus hornets literally chew up wood and spit it out, so that's even more reason to assume bees do something like that.
Fact check me, but isn't honey just bee vomit? Like it's a little bit digested nectar, no? So knowing that beeswas was is not spit or puke equivalent is less gross to me.
I knew the bees had to be secreting wax somehow. But I always imagined it to be some kind of secondary oral process. Instead they really use... specialized pores under the segments in their thorax?
Now I don't know which version grosses me out more.
Haha; I think the wool's too fuzzy and not rigid enough to bother me. I've been trying to get more into the fiber arts in the last few years, too, so definitely not a problem that I've noticed.
Almost definitely; I don't know if there's a degree that's necessary to qualify as I can still look at it without breaking eye contact (though I hate it). But I have a deep desire to rip that shit up the entire time; deeply repulsive, whatever the reason. Honeycombs don't bother me, though; I dunno.
Wikipedia has some actually useful units regarding it's production.
The new wax is initially clear as glass and colorless, becoming opaque after chewing and being introduced with pollen by the hive worker bees, becoming progressively yellower or browner by incorporation of pollen oils and propolis. The wax scales are about three millimetres across and 0.1 mm thick, and about 1100 are needed to make a gram of wax. Worker bees use the beeswax to build honeycomb cells. For the wax-making bees to secrete wax, the ambient temperature in the hive must be 33 to 36°C.
The book Beeswax Production, Harvesting, Processing and Products suggests one kilogram of beeswax is sufficient to store 22 kg of honey. Another study estimated that one kilogram of wax can store 24 to 30 kg of honey.
Apparently a strong hive can have a colony of around 60,000 bees, so 500000/16 = 31250 bees, meaning it's possible, albeit unlikely because not all bees work the same, but it is almost theoretically possible for a big colony to make 2 lbs a day then.
Assuming flakes and scales are the same thing as well.
Any female bee in the hive will go through all the jobs available depending on their age. The bees you see flying around are at the end of the life cycle. Bees make wax from days 12 to 18. By the time they go foraging they are 21+ days old and no longer have the fuzziness of youth.
88 Comments
hypna@lemmy.world · 165 pts · 332d
How did it never occur to me to ask where bee's wax comes from?
don@lemmy.ca · 49 pts · 332d
I mean, it’s right there in the name: beeswax, its own word.
villainy@lemmy.world · 117 pts · 332d
I don't know what I was expecting exactly but it wasn't little wax scales coming from their abdomen
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca · 37 pts · 332d
I always kind of hoped they pooped the wax out like spider's silk.
Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 332d
I assumed it was like cream separating from milk, only wax from honey, but to be fair I have never really thought about it much
TachyonTele@piefed.social · 33 pts · 332d
I thought they regurgitated it into the honey combs.
wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 331d
They do, but in order for them to regurgitate, they first must gorge upon it. They eat it, chew it up and spit it out in the shapes necessary (planar, cylindrical, or otherwise).
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 332d
I hoped they pooped it out their legs like Spiderman
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 327d
i think most people at some point hear that honey is basically bee vomit, and thus passively assume wax works the same way. Plus hornets literally chew up wood and spit it out, so that's even more reason to assume bees do something like that.
trolololol@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 332d
Well it's not like it's called beeswaxoutoftheiryuckysegmentedbody so we still have some room for imagination duh
SydBa@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 331d
Bees bodies are beautiful.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 332d
‘Cause it’s nunya
thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 332d
What's nutya?
icelimit@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 331d
Nunya beeswax
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 332d
U & me both
Kernal64@sh.itjust.works · 81 pts · 332d
I don't know why, but this grosses me out so much.
mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de · 95 pts · 332d
Yeah it looks really disgusting, like it's shitting soft teeth
Winter_Oven@piefed.social · 63 pts · 332d
oi you didn't need to put that image out there in the world
you could have just kept that to yourself
Kernal64@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 332d
Nobody needed to share that picture of bees making wax, either. 😩 We've all had our share of trauma from this post.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 332d
I don't remember any bee wax secretion picture
toynbee@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 332d
It's basically the same thought that occurred to me, so it wouldn't have been contained.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 332d
CORN
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 332d
What a terrible day to know how to read.
Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone · 14 pts · 332d
Fuckin bee eczema 🤢
fossilesque@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 331d
mr_satan@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 332d
Fact check me, but isn't honey just bee vomit? Like it's a little bit digested nectar, no? So knowing that beeswas was is not spit or puke equivalent is less gross to me.
BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 331d
It's setting my trypophobia off for sure.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 332d
Me too, real "Thanks, I hate it"
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 78 pts · 332d
I knew the bees had to be secreting wax somehow. But I always imagined it to be some kind of secondary oral process. Instead they really use... specialized pores under the segments in their thorax?
Now I don't know which version grosses me out more.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 332d
It's not like you ain't got glands
Canonical_Warlock@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 15 pts · 332d
Ey gril, can I get a peak at them glands?
I prefer adrenal by thyroid also works in a pinch.tomenzgg@midwest.social · 17 pts · 332d
Definitely the latter, for me; something about segmented holes just grosses the absolute Hell out of me.
deltapi@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 331d
I've got bad news for you about woolen fabrics...
tomenzgg@midwest.social · 4 pts · 331d
Haha; I think the wool's too fuzzy and not rigid enough to bother me. I've been trying to get more into the fiber arts in the last few years, too, so definitely not a problem that I've noticed.
Tonava@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 331d
tomenzgg@midwest.social · 6 pts · 331d
Almost definitely; I don't know if there's a degree that's necessary to qualify as I can still look at it without breaking eye contact (though I hate it). But I have a deep desire to rip that shit up the entire time; deeply repulsive, whatever the reason. Honeycombs don't bother me, though; I dunno.
ook@discuss.tchncs.de · 14 pts · 332d
Mist101@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 331d
Easy, stored in the bee-balls, that's why they're called BBs.
user1234@lemmynsfw.com · 62 pts · 332d
I guess you can say it's a small scale operation
Johandea@feddit.nu · 55 pts · 332d
Wikipedia has some actually useful units regarding it's production.
don@lemmy.ca · 50 pts · 332d
What’ll really bake your noodle later on is the wax is made from honey.
meekah@lemmy.world · 64 pts · 332d
I mean, the whole bee is, if you think about it
Jimbabwe@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 332d
If you want to make a bee from scratch, you must first invent the universe
BanMe@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 332d
It's bees all the way down
deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz · 5 pts · 332d
Calm down Sagan.
TachyonTele@piefed.social · 23 pts · 332d
Whoa hey now, you're not going to get me to think that easily
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 10 pts · 332d
Mostly pollen actually. The honey is just the fuel.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 32 pts · 332d
Sort of like how the spit in your mouth, the tears in your eyes, the snot in your nose, etc is primarily made of filtered blood.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 332d
Evolution does not create from nothing, it repurposes and modifies what's on hand.
Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 332d
I don't know how I feel about this new revelation
Nindelofocho@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 332d
I never really thought about it but bees are fuckin weird
blazeknave@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 332d
👋😬
Hi. So.. how do bees work? Eli5
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 332d
First they go to the unembeeployment office to see where they'd benefit the hive
Seaguy05@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 332d
Hey man, let them live their lives. Mind your own bees wax... It's not your wax, it's the bees wax.
TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub · 19 pts · 332d
Everyone should mind their beesness.
Seaguy05@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 332d
It was right there and it flew right by me.
Zozano@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 332d
Back in my day, minding your own beesness was the bee's knees!
tidderuuf@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 332d
He should use Head & Shoulders, will clear that right up.
RedSnt@feddit.dk · 29 pts · 332d
Apparently a strong hive can have a colony of around 60,000 bees, so 500000/16 = 31250 bees, meaning it's possible, albeit unlikely because not all bees work the same, but it is almost theoretically possible for a big colony to make 2 lbs a day then.
Assuming flakes and scales are the same thing as well.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 332d
It looks like one side of this bee is clogged
fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com · 22 pts · 332d
But is a flake the same as a scale? Bad explanation.
Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz · 19 pts · 332d
If you spread that stuff on wood or leather, it'll last forever.
sobchak@programming.dev · 17 pts · 332d
TIL beeswax is pretty cheap. I typically use shellac on stuff that is indoor and low wear, Looks like beeswax is cheaper and about as easy to apply.
YerbaYerba@lemmy.zip · 16 pts · 332d
Fun fact: shellac is an insect product too
PolarKraken@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 331d
Just out here rubbing bug goo on plant corpses, guess we're weirder than the bees
kazerniel@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 331d
I never thought about it, but beeswax is kinda disgusting, basically ass-grease :P
Dasus@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 331d
And honey is more or less vomit if you want to think about like that.
Then again, if you do, remember that your cafe latte is also just boob fat and protein with some bean juice.
kazerniel@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 330d
Yea, I'm vegan, so I'm mindful of milk and honey (and yes, they're disgusting), just never really thought about what process wax exactly came from.
Dasus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 330d
You'll probably hate this song then
Roxette - Milk And Toast And Honey
psud@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 330d
They probably also hate that animal agriculture is required for permaculture. But they hate a lot, so the song is just a little bit
horseloaf@piefed.zip · 17 pts · 332d
How many flakes in a scale?
ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 332d
How about a morsel? A chunk?
Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 332d
How many bee jackets to make a tube of all natural chap stick?
realitista@lemmus.org · 11 pts · 332d
Eww
ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 332d
Yeeeeah. Blech. No offense, bees, but keep that shit private.
tdawg@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 332d
Gross, but also neat
visnudeva@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 332d
Very hairy for a beeswax producer.
FauxPseudo@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 332d
Any female bee in the hive will go through all the jobs available depending on their age. The bees you see flying around are at the end of the life cycle. Bees make wax from days 12 to 18. By the time they go foraging they are 21+ days old and no longer have the fuzziness of youth.
jayambi@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 332d
how many burgers is one lb?
meekah@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 332d
you do know what quarter pounder means right?
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 13 pts · 332d
🇬🇧 - It means it costs 25 pence, or £0.25.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 332d
'ow many shekels is that?
ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 332d
I haven't got a penny. Will a ha'penny do?
AeonFelis@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 332d
It means bigger than a third pounder, right?
kungen@feddit.nu · 5 pts · 332d
You mean a Royale with Cheese?
FiskFisk33@startrek.website · 3 pts · 332d
still depends on if they're the same pound, there are a few to chose from
Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 332d
Seven bald eagles and three units of freedom
mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 332d
just one
whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 332d
Weird bee teeth, tooth fairy origins?
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 332d
Gimme some honey and comb on vanilla ice cream
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 330d
I always though they puked it up