Africa-Wales Beeswax Trade Development

We worked with beeswax exporting company, Guiding Hope, and importing company, Tropical Forest Products, to improve the efficiency of beeswax trade from Cameroon to Wales.

Projects aims

• To identify the most cost effective and efficient equipment for processing honey comb harvested from fixed comb hives
• To maximise the recovery rate of liquid honey extracted from comb honey
• To improve the quality of processed beeswax

The work was undertaken in Cameroon and in Wales and involved developing and testing methods and equipment.

Achievements

• Honey draining tables were developed to replace the previous method which used straw to strain honey. The draining tables produced cleaner honey and honey could be strained at a greater rate and lower cost.
• Four different techniques for extracting honey from comb residues (left over from the draining tables) were tested. The most effective method was a heated tank. The wax residues are carefully melted in a thermostatically controlled tank. The wax floats on top of the honey and the honey is tapped off leaving wax.
• Another recommendation was the re-shaping of wax into rectangular blocks for more efficient and cost-effective packing for export.