How do we harvest beeswax?
Honey uncappings Bees use wax as a constructing material to construct their honeycombs, in which they store honey, pollen, etc. Bees use the wax also for capping the honey bee in cells. When the beekeeper uncaps the honey, before spinning, these wax cappings are melted in boiling water, then poured in the form of wax molds and that is how the premium beeswax is obtained. Beeswax can also be harvested by cutting wild honeycombs that bees typically construct in empty spaces inside the hive.
How do we purify the beeswax?
Pieces of beeswax In most cases, the beeswax contains residues of honey, pollen, propolis, cellulose, etc. To purify the beeswax, we run it through several water baths. Then the wax is melted several times in large amount of boiling water, where the water-soluble substances are dissolved. It is filtered through a filter fabric in each melting in order to collect all the small particles. The result is perfectly clean and yellow beeswax.
What is the beeswax used for?
Beeswax is used in medicine and cosmetics. It is suitable for plasters, patches, ointments, candles and many other applications, such as impregnation of wood and iron, impregnation of winter shoes, etc.
- Bees use the beeswax along with propolis for coating and capping everything inside the hive, by forming a thin layer, which prevents the movement of spores and microorganisms. That is why the beeswax is credited with antimicrobial and antiviral action.
- Beeswax has a characteristic property of slow heat absorption and emission. It is widely used in thermotherapy
- Most candles available on market are petroleum-derived waxes like paraffin and stearin. At burning a candle, a number of poisonous substances are emitted in the air. There is no emission of any poisonous substances with beeswax candle burning. In addition to that, burning of beeswax candle burns up the dust in the air and has aroma-therapeutic effect. Candles from vegetable wax (like soy wax or palm wax), which are offered as "natural" product, need felling of hundreds of thousands of acres of jungle for their production, only to burn like a candle. Beeswax does not require anything like this and is a product of perfect symbiosis between bees and humans, which is win-win situation.
- The beeswax is fat-soluble. Because of this property, it is a great product for making homemade ointments. You can melt it in a water bath, dilute it with olive oil, lard, high quality rapeseed oil, or another oil, and obtain ointment with a number of useful properties
- Due to its fat-solubility, it is widely used in aromatherapy. Melt beeswax in a water bath and put a few drops of your favorite essential oil. The scent will spread all over the room. We do NOT recommend dripping of essential oils onto burning candle or any open flame
- Beeswax is suitable for impregnation of winter shoes. You can melt beeswax in a water bath and mix it with lard, olive oil, etc., in the beeswax-to-oil ratio of 1:3. The finished mixture is then applied over the shoes and melted on the shoe by the help of a hair dryer.
- Beeswax is extremely suitable for impregnation of wood. Wood impregnated in a melted beeswax will ensure its preservation for decades. It can also be used for polishing wood and metal, by rubbing it.
