Buchwald Robert, Breed Michael D, Greenberg Alan R, Otis Gard
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 427, Boulder, CO 80309-0427, USA.
J Exp Biol. 2006 Oct;209(Pt 20):3984-9. doi: 10.1242/jeb.02472.
Beeswax is a multicomponent material used by bees in the genus Apis to house larvae and store honey and pollen. We characterized the mechanical properties of waxes from four honeybee species: Apis mellifera L., Apis andreniformis L., Apis dorsata L. and two subspecies of Apis cerana L. In order to isolate the material effects from the architectural properties of nest comb, we formed raw wax in to right, circular cylindrical samples, and compressed them in an electromechanical tensometer. From the resulting stress-strain curves, values for yield stress, yield strain, stress and strain at the proportional limit, stiffness, and resilience were obtained. Apis dorsata wax was stiffer and had a higher yield stress and stress at the proportional limit than all of the other waxes. The waxes of A. cerana and A. mellifera had intermediate strength and stiffness, and A. andreniformis wax was the least strong, stiff and resilient. All of the waxes had similar strain values at the proportional limit and yield point. The observed differences in wax mechanical properties correlate with the nesting ecology of these species. A. mellifera and A. cerana nest in cavities that protect the nest from environmental stresses, whereas the species with the strongest and stiffest wax, A. dorsata, constructs relatively heavy nests attached to branches of tall trees, exposing them to substantially greater mechanical forces. The wax of A. andreniformis was the least strong, stiff and resilient, and their nests have low masses relative to other species in the genus and, although not built in cavities, are constructed on lower, often shielded branches that can absorb the forces of wind and rain.
蜂蜡是蜜蜂属的蜜蜂用于培育幼虫以及储存蜂蜜和花粉的一种多组分材料。我们对四种蜜蜂的蜂蜡的机械性能进行了表征，这四种蜜蜂分别是：西方蜜蜂、黑小蜜蜂、大蜜蜂以及中华蜜蜂的两个亚种。为了从蜂巢结构特性中分离出材料效应，我们将原始蜂蜡制成右圆形圆柱样本，并在机电拉伸仪中对其进行压缩。从所得的应力 - 应变曲线中，获得了屈服应力、屈服应变、比例极限处的应力和应变、刚度以及弹性的数值。大蜜蜂的蜂蜡比所有其他蜂蜡更硬，且具有更高的屈服应力和比例极限处的应力。中华蜜蜂和西方蜜蜂的蜂蜡强度和刚度处于中等水平，而黑小蜜蜂的蜂蜡强度、刚度和弹性最低。所有蜂蜡在比例极限和屈服点处具有相似的应变值。观察到的蜂蜡机械性能差异与这些蜜蜂的筑巢生态相关。西方蜜蜂和中华蜜蜂在洞穴中筑巢，这些洞穴可保护蜂巢免受环境压力影响，而蜂蜡强度和刚度最大的大蜜蜂则在高大树木的树枝上构建相对较重的蜂巢，使其承受更大的机械力。黑小蜜蜂的蜂蜡强度、刚度和弹性最低，并且它们的蜂巢相对于该属中的其他物种质量较轻，尽管不是筑于洞穴中，但建在较低且通常有遮蔽的树枝上，这些树枝可以吸收风雨的力量。
