Chemometric classification of comb and cuticular waxes of the honeybee Apis mellifera carnica

Waxes are important as building material and for the chemical communication of the honeybee Apis mellifera carnica. In this study chemometric tools we re established for classifying the different waxes inside the hive. By usin g gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry, components of d ifferent types of waxes were analyzed. By considering different substance c lasses of waxes, discriminant function analyses revealed distinct subtypes of comb waxes and of cuticular waxes. It is shown that the aging of comb wa x is in part a spontaneous physicochemical process due to differential vola tilities of compound classes with different chain length ranges. On the oth er hand it is directly influenced by the bees by adding lipolytic enzymes t o the comb wax. The data suggest that the varying cuticular wax and comb wa x compositions could serve as cues for bees to recognize castes, sexes, or comb age.