Thumbprints -Beeswax
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The bee, Apis Melifera, secretes wax from scales under its abdomen. This wax is used to build combs in which the queen lays her eggs. New wax is light yellow but it turns brown with age. Chemically, beeswax is composed of myricil palmitate and cerotic acid. Beeswax melts at 63 degrees centigrade. Uses: Beeswax is used for polishes, candles, leather dressings, adhesives, cosmetics, as a protective coating for etching, as a filler for bending metal tubes, and as a lubricant. The example you see on this webpage is a substrate used by beekeepers. This means the beekeeper inserts a sheet of this material into the hive and the bees build their honeycombs on it.