White comb

[SixFooter]

Why is wild comb sometimes a very white colour as opposed to the usual yellowish colour?

 

[Mike a]

I always thought all comb was white when new and over time it slowly changes colour to what we see most of the time.

 

[Chris Luck]

All new comb is white when it starts life, it gradually, or not so gradually, as the case may be gets stained from use, brood, honey, pollen.

Snap.

Chris

 

[keith pierce]

oilseed rape produces a very white wax

 

[mexbigshow]

all the wax in my tbh starts brilliant white and gradually turns darker with the addition of honey and brood

 

[Gardenbees]

Brand new wax cells, before they are filled, are always a nice clean white. Some bee types also have a reputation for producting very white cappings - Italians for example. One of my Buckfast colonies produces noticeably whiter capped honey than the others, which are creamier in colour. Snow-white capping is nice for cut comb.

If it's the cappings that strike you as particularly bright white in colour, perhaps your local mutt/wild bees have a lot of Italian ancestry...