Slumgum in

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

is the residue of the

beeswax Bee hive wax complex Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in o ...

rendering process. When the beeswax from brood comb is rendered to produce clean wax, it leaves behind the

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

casings, skins shed by molting larvae, excrement from larvae, wax moth cocoons, and other residual debris included in the original material.

Uses

Less slumgum can be expected from rendering of cappings or honey comb. Slumgum is slightly heavier than wax and sticks to the bottom of the wax cake. It is brown to black in color, and burns readily. Melted slumgum can be poured over pine cones to make fire starters. Lumps of slumgum are very attractive to bees, especially when heated by the sun. They can be used to attract bee swarms, and some people therefore prefer applying melted slumgum on the sides of supers. Slumgum is also used as a fertilizer in some agricultural crops like ornamentals; it has been shown that slumgum contains several nutrients that are required for the growth of these crops. Depending on how well the rendering was performed, slumgum may still contain significant amount of wax that is possible to extract in larger factories using more complex equipment.

Uses

References

Further reading