Bees for Development
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Beeswax is one of nature's amazing materials. Pure beeswax from Apis mellifera contains at least 300 different compounds being a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, a variety of esters and free acids. Human societies have long valued beeswax. Despite the use of cheaper petroleum based waxes, beeswax remains the most versatile bee product. It is used for a range of industrial processes, for instance as an ingredient in many cosmetics, ointments and pharmaceutical preparations. It is important in batik and other textile work and central in certain metal casting and modelling processes, as well as wax foundation for beehives and in candle making. No candle is more beautiful nor has a more delicious aroma than a lustrous candle made from pure, golden beeswax.
Bees are stimulated to produce wax when there is a surplus of honey and a lack of honey comb in which to store it. It is made by young worker honey bees that secrete it as a liquid from four pairs of wax glands on the underside of their body. The liquid wax spreads over the surface of 4 pairs of special plates (called 'wax mirrors') and hardens on contact with air to form a tiny, white, wax scale. A worker honey bee produces eight of these flakes of wax every twelve hours. The bees chew the tiny scales using their mandibles (jaws) and salivary secretions become mixed with the wax. When it is the right consistency, the new wax is used for constructing comb and sealing cells. It is very clear to a beekeeper when bees are making wax as they hang in distinctive chains which help to maintain the optimum temperature needed for wax production. It takes about 1250 scales of wax to produce 1g of beeswax.
Beeswax can provide a beekeeper with worthwhile extra income yet it is often neglected as an income generating resource. Unlike honey, it does not require careful packaging and storage so is simpler to deal with, and the creation of value added, secondary products from beeswax offers a unique opportunity for income generation for women because it utilises their traditional skills. Some African countries, for example Ethiopia and Angola, have significant beeswax exports, while in other countries beekeepers remain unaware of the value of beeswax and even throw it away. This is a wasted resource, for bees consume around eight kilograms of honey to produce just one kilogram of beeswax.
Methods of processing
There are a number of methods to separate beeswax from honey. Some are more complicated than others so the choice of method will be determined by its suitability for individual circumstances. The three main ideas are:
Each of these methods can be carried out using simple constructions or utensils that would normally be found in an African household. In each case the wax produced will need a second filtering for it to become clean enough for use.
List of Articles available on this topic (60):
Title | Author |
A day in the life of Dinah Sweet : presenting a honey judge\'s workshop in Trinidad | Sweet, D. |
A solar wax extractor rebuild | Chapman, N. |
African honey trade workshop (no.81) | Bees for Development |
Alkane composition variations between darker and lighter coloured comb beeswax | Namdar, D., Neumann, R., Sladezki, Y., Haddad, N. and Weiner, S. |
An estimate of honey and beeswax production in the North-Western province | Mulenga, K.B. |
Analysis of Chinese Beeswax by Gas Chromatography | Ou-Yang Zhang, Lee Al-Ping, He Kang-Ming |
Bee product diversification and value addition | Bees for Development |
Bee products in Ethiopia | Bees for Development |
Beekeeping: Digest of Selected Literature on Beekeeping, Honey and Beewax Processing | Bassey, I.H. |
Bees in the miombo | Madeleen Husselman, Moira Moeliono and Fiona Paumgarten |
Beeswax | Davis, C. |
Beeswax and Honey Production: The Nyasaland Potential (Malawi) | Sheriff. J.S. |
Beeswax Candles | Clair Waring |
Beeswax Candles | Furness, C |
Beeswax candles with a difference | Hughes, J. |
Beeswax Crafting | Berthold, R. Jr |
Beeswax crafts: Candlemaking, Modelling, Beauty Creams, Soap and Polishes, Encaustic Art and Wax Crayons | Battershill, N., Constable, D., Crouch, L., Duffin, L. & Pinder, P. |
Beeswax from the Apiary | ADAS |
Beeswax ointment | Gau, K |
Beeswax: quality issues today | Bogdanov, S. |
Body cream using beeswax | Ndichia, F.A. |
Buzz on cholesterol - lowering beeswax is promising | Graham, J.M. |
CABESI - a multi-faceted, self-help project | Gloor, R. & Thomas, H. |
Candle Making | Garner, L |
Candle Making : Leisure Crafts | Collings, A., Constable, D. & Marr, R. |
Creative Batik | Robinson, R |
Development of beekeeping in developing countries and practical procedures - case study in Africa | JAICAF |
Extraction and purification of beeswax | Chhuneja, P.K., Singh, R., Singh, J. |
Finest beeswax candles? | Riches, H. |
Guiding Hope Business Award Press Release | Guiding Hope |
Hive Products/Solitary Bees/Solar Wax extraction | Angie Twydall/David Baldock/Dr Chris Coulson |
Honey and beeswax value chain analysis - Ethiopia | Agonafir, J |
Honey and Beeswax: A compact study of the Netherlands and other major markets in the European Union | CBI |
Honey and Beeswax: A Survey on the Netherlands and other Major Markets in the European Community | CBI |
Honey, beecomb and beeswax sold at public markets in Thailand | Watanabe, H. |
Honeybees and Wax | Hepburn, H R |
Honeyhunting in Bangladesh | Svensson, B. |
How to Make Beeswax Candles | Furness, C. |
Importation of wax from Senegal | Phipps,J. |
In praise of beeswax | Bradbear, N. |
La Cire Blanche de China (rectification) (The white wax of China (rectification).) | Bugnion, E, Popoff, N |
Lost wax casting | Bees for Development |
Lost-Wax Casting | Feinberg, W. |
Making a solar extractor | Simon Rees |
Management of Philippine Bees | Cervancia C.R: Fajardo A.C; Manila-Fajardo A.C; Lucero R.M. |
Marketing Honey and Beeswax from Apis dorsata in West Kalimantan | Mulder, V.; Heri, V.; Wickham, T. |
Organic Beekeeping in Mexico | Furst, M.; Ganz, P. |
Practical Beekeeping - Body Cream using Beeswax | Ndichia, F. A. |
Practical Beekeeping - Top-bar hives in Eastern Senegal | Romet, A. |
Pysanky: Ukrainian Eggs Created with Beeswax | Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn |
Quality and standards of pollen and beeswax | Aston, D |
Small scale beeswax processing in remote western Nepal | Saville, N.M. |
Super Formulas: How to make more than 360 useful products that contain honey and beeswax | White, E.C. |
The beauty world minds its beeswax | Brien, Caroline |
Traditional honey & wax collection from Apis dorsata in West Kalimantan | Mulder, V. Heri, V. and Wickham, T. |
Turning your beeswax into high profit products | Weaver, B., Weaver, M. |
Value Assed Products: Making Cosmetics | Svensson, B. |
Wax extraction information | Friend, I. |
Wax Foundation Making | Saville, N. |
Wax market report for Europe 2004 | Phipps, J. |