Beeswax

Beeswax (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 4 through 7 of worker bees, who discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers collect and use it for comb structural stability, to form cells for honey-storage and larval and pupal comfort and protection within the bee hive. Chemically, beeswax consists mainly of esters of fatty acids and various long-chain alcohols.

Beeswax has applications in human food and flavoring, for example as a glazing agent. It is edible, in the sense of having similar negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in the European Union under the E number E901. However, the wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolysed in the guts of humans and other mammals, so have insignificant nutritional value. Some birds, such as honeyguides, can digest beeswax.

Production

The wax is formed by worker bees, which secrete it from eight wax-producing mirror glands on the inner sides of the sternites (the ventral shield or plate of each segment of the body) on abdominal segments 4 to 7. The sizes of these wax glands depend on the age of the worker, and after many daily flights, these glands begin to gradually atrophy.

Beeswax (film)

Beeswax is a 2009 American mumblecore film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. The film examines a few days in the life of twins, played by real-life sisters Tilly and Maggie Hatcher.

It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 7, 2009.

Cast

Critical response

The film opened to mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 73% of 45 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.7/10. The website reported the critical consensus warned that "Andrew Bujalski's third effort will test the patience of some filmgoers", but lauded the film as "a warm, funny, and honest introduction to the mumblecore movement". Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 (out of 100) based on 14 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable reviews."

Incesticide

Incesticide is a compilation album by the American rock band Nirvana. Incesticide consists of their 1990 single "Sliver", demos, outtakes, covers, and radio broadcast recordings. At the time, the majority of the material on Incesticide was circulating within fan communities (albeit in lower quality). It was widely reported in the music press that the band wanted to offer fans a higher-quality alternative, but in the book Cobain Unseen, Charles R. Cross writes that Kurt Cobain agreed to the release of this compilation because he was allowed complete control over the album's artwork. The album was released on December 14, 1992 in Europe, and December 15, 1992 in the United States and eventually reached number thirty-nine on the Billboard 200. Since the songs were recorded in different sessions and some were recorded when Nirvana did not have a stable formation, the album includes recordings by four different drummers: Chad Channing, Dan Peters, Dale Crover, and Dave Grohl.

Songs