The Influence of the Chemical Composition of Beeswax Foundation Sheets on Their Acceptability by the Bee's Colony

Beeswax is one of the most important products for the well-being of bee colonies. The wax glands of young worker bees produce beeswax, which serves as a building material for honeycomb construction. Beekeepers using hives with mobile frames mainly utilize local beeswax to make foundations. Any paraf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2024-11, Vol.29 (23), p.5489
Main Authors: Ledjanac, Sava, Hoxha, Fatjon, Jasnić, Nebojša, Tasić, Aleksandra, Jovanović, Marko, Blagojević, Slavica, Plavša, Nada, Tosti, Tomislav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acceptability
Animals
Bees
Beeswax
bee’s colony
Building materials
Fatty acids
Fourier transforms
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Honey
honeycomb
Hydrocarbons
Mass spectrometry
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
paraffin
Paraffin - chemistry
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrum analysis
Waxes - chemistry
Well being
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Summary:Beeswax is one of the most important products for the well-being of bee colonies. The wax glands of young worker bees produce beeswax, which serves as a building material for honeycomb construction. Beekeepers using hives with mobile frames mainly utilize local beeswax to make foundations. Any paraffin addition represents adulteration, resulting in a high degree of contamination. During the preparation of re-used beeswax, losses during the process may instigate producers to add cheaper, wax-like substances like paraffin and tallow. This article presents a systematic investigation of the quality of beeswax foundation from six major producers in Vojvodina, Serbia, by applying the classic analytical procedure for the determination of selected physicochemical parameters and instrumental gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy techniques. FTIR-ATR detected possible paraffin and beef tallow in 72 foundation sheet samples. This technique was complemented with GC-MS. This analysis revealed that paraffin content ranged between 19.75 and 85.68%, while no tallow was detected over the two-year period. Two sheets from each manufacturer were placed into wired Langstroth-Ruth frames and placed in beehives. The construction, based on built cells, was monitored every 24 h. Evaluating newly inserted sheets proved that without quality nectar, there is no intensive building, regardless of adulteration.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules29235489