Bee in amber

[Moth.11]

Real or fake bee in amber? Thanks.

Bee photo

Amber

[rocket]

interesting, but it is in need of a good polishing to see the venation of the wings and more details

whatever it is, it looks like a great insect

amber looks real for me, and if it is miocene it is not impossible to find a bee (rare, but...)

Edited September 5 by rocket

[Randyw]

I’m sorry but there’s not enough information here to give you a real answer.

it is almost impossible to differentiate amber, copal, etc by visual alone. We need where it’s from. And results of some of the amber tests to say if it’s even amber or not….theres a lot of copal on the market being sold as amber or sometimes “young amber”

amber is generally considered amber and no longer copal at 5 Mya.

Edited September 5 by Randyw

[Moth.11]

Thanks. I will buy it.

[rocket]

9 hours ago, Moth.11 said:

Thanks. I will buy it.

great idea, I can hardly wait for it to be polished 

I am not familiar with amber insect, but always love to see them

[Jaybot]

Side question, and sorry if this is the wrong place: Is there a physical characteristic that separates Amber and Copal?

[Randyw]

Several actually. I’m in the middle of something I’ll answer better in a couple of minute

[Randyw]

Ok sorry about the delay. There are stages. Tree sap, hardened tree sap, copal, and amber. Generally copal if from as young as 25 years old. Amber is generally considered amber 5 million years of age. As the tree sap hardens it looses vvolitile chemicals. The length of time the change take varies quite a bit depending on enviroment. It mostly regarded as tree sap after about a year or so considered hardened tree sap. At between 10-25 years it’s considered copal until at between 5-10 million years it’s considered amber. Copal is generally much easier to find and in bigger pieces becuase it’s not as brittle and hard as amber. Also becuase it is still losing chemicals it has a tendency to craze a lot faster and easier then amber. Depending on the age of the copal it will fail the hardness test, the hot needle test and sometimes the u.v. Test. The saltwater test can be inconclusive between the two if the copal is old enough. If you rub copal vigorously it will produce a pine like smell. Amber will require a hot needle to produce it. Copal will also fail an acetone test. You put a drop of acetone on it let it evaporate then put a second drop on. It will become sticky. Amber will not become sticky. Amber is hard enough to be used as jewelry where copal is too soft to be used. Some copal is soft enough to be carved with a sharp knife. Amber can not be.

while there are a few people that will collect copal most amber collectors wont touch it even if you give it to them. It is generally considered as being worth much much less then amber. I myself only have a couple of pieces of copal to use as examples and I wont buy copal. I’ve seen pictures of large pieces considered copal that were still hanging on the tree.

Kind of long winded but I hope this helps some.

[North]

3 hours ago, Randyw said:

Ok sorry about the delay. There are stages. Tree sap, hardened tree sap, copal, and amber. Generally copal if from as young as 25 years old. Amber is generally considered amber 5 million years of age. As the tree sap hardens it looses vvolitile chemicals. The length of time the change take varies quite a bit depending on enviroment. It mostly regarded as tree sap after about a year or so considered hardened tree sap. At between 10-25 years it’s considered copal until at between 5-10 million years it’s considered amber. Copal is generally much easier to find and in bigger pieces becuase it’s not as brittle and hard as amber. Also becuase it is still losing chemicals it has a tendency to craze a lot faster and easier then amber. Depending on the age of the copal it will fail the hardness test, the hot needle test and sometimes the u.v. Test. The saltwater test can be inconclusive between the two if the copal is old enough. If you rub copal vigorously it will produce a pine like smell. Amber will require a hot needle to produce it. Copal will also fail an acetone test. You put a drop of acetone on it let it evaporate then put a second drop on. It will become sticky. Amber will not become sticky. Amber is hard enough to be used as jewelry where copal is too soft to be used. Some copal is soft enough to be carved with a sharp knife. Amber can not be.

while there are a few people that will collect copal most amber collectors wont touch it even if you give it to them. It is generally considered as being worth much much less then amber. I myself only have a couple of pieces of copal to use as examples and I wont buy copal. I’ve seen pictures of large pieces considered copal that were still hanging on the tree.

Kind of long winded but I hope this helps some.

Very interesting. I never thought how to tell appart more polymerizated amber.

I wish I would know more, so I could get one someday.