Mind your own beeswax!

The things you need to know about beeswax.

Our idea of the purpose of beeswax is very different from that of the bees. Worker bees use beeswax to build honeycomb, which stores honey and is also where larval bees are housed.

Beeswax is composed of fatty acid esters and long-chain alcohols (for all of you orgo nerds out there). And it’s not easy to make – 10 pounds of honey yield a single pound of wax. Worker bees have 8 wax production glands on their sternites (abdominal segments 4-7), which atrophy with age and number of flights. Wax scales are clear, and become white as the bees chew it up to transform it into honeycomb. The wax yellows with the addition of pollen, nectar, and propolis. The color of beeswax can range from nearly white to brownish, depending on the purity of the wax. Wax from brood comb tends to be darker, having accumulated impurities.

Beekeepers cut off the wax caps of honeycomb with a hot wax knife (or some similar instrument) when harvesting honey. The darker wax requires rendering before further use to remove impurities. The leftover wax is, according to Wikipedia (uh oh), called “slumgum.”

Humans’ uses for beeswax are varied and some are quite ancient. When purified, beeswax is used both as a food additive and in cosmetic pharmaceuticals. Wax as a food additive or preserving agent is known as “E901 glazing agent,” and is most familiar as the wax coating around some cheeses. Beeswax is also an ingredient in many skin protectants and hair pomades. Beeswax is also used as an ingredient in surgical bone wax – go figure!

Beeswax is also frequently used to make candles. In fact, beeswax are the liturgical candles of the Roman Catholic Church. Beeswax candles are ideal because they burn cleanly, with little or no dripping and very little smoke. Beeswax also burns much longer than other common candle materials, such as paraffin. And most importantly, beeswax candles smell FANTASTIC.

Beeswax has many other niche uses, including as shoe polish, in Eastern European egg decoration, and early phonograph cylinders. Historically, beeswax was used in writing tablets, was “man’s first plastic,” and was even found in Egyptian mummies!

The uses of beeswax are many, and I will not enumerate each and every one, but I hope you have learned more about this sweet-smelling, multi-purpose gift from the bees! Go out and get yourself some on-the-comb honey and a storm candle in celebration!