More About Bee Wax

More About Bee Wax

The substance, which is secreted by the honeybees to construct their honeycombs, is nothing but the natural wax. The Beeswax is generally produced by the by the young worker bees. The worker bee has eight wax mirror producing glands in the body. The newly produced wax scales are colorless and glass clear. The worker bees masticate the wax making it opaque. The new honeycomb has wax, which is nearly white but gradually turns into yellow or brown due to the addition of propolis and pollen oils. But the wax in the brood comb (a place in the hive where the queen bee lay its eggs) is darker as the impurities get easily collected in the brood comb.

The wax, which is to be used, is to be heated first in the water and is ready for use either to make candles or as a lubrication for drawers and windows. It gives wonderful results when used as wood polish. The uses of bee wax varied and very effective and are being used since ages. Now many synthetic waxes have come up but the process of making candle was initiated with the help of the honey wax and is still used. The candles made of beeswax differ from those of paraffin. The flame of the beeswax candle is warmer and more yellow than that of paraffin. The color of the flame depends on the season the wax was harvested.

The Eastern orthodox churches prefer Beeswax candle the most for they burn very cleanly, with very little smoke and with little or no drippings. The beeswax candle (Easter candle) forms the integral part of prayer in the liturgy of Roman Catholic Churches. This is not all; beeswax is also used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It is used as polishing material like the shoe-polish. It is very commonly used during the assembly of pool tables where it is used to fill in the screws and the seams between the slates.

The people, who make accordions, make use of beeswax as an adhesive. It is blended with pine rosin, to attach reed plates to the structure inside an accordion. It also worked as one of the ingredients in deadlock wax and moustache wax to manufacture cylinders used by the earliest phonographs. Beeswax when used as food additives is known as E901 (glazing agent). It is used as a coating for cheese. Some have replaced it with plastic but some still use beeswax to avoid any unpleasant flavors due to plastic. The coating of beeswax protects the food when it ages.

Now a days Beeswax is commercially used for skin care products, soap, the coatings of sweets and pills, batik art, furniture polish, for better quality candles and in quilting and heavy sewing. The beeswax helps the thread to pass through the tough material smoothly.