Hive Products - Beeswax

The honeybees use wax to make all of the internal structure of the hive, the famous hexagonal shape cells (comb) can contain pollen, developing bees or honey depending on what the bees require the cells for. Periodically, its good practice to remove some of the beeswax from the hive and allow the bees to build up the new comb. Allowing the regular replacement of the comb reduces diseases within the colony. Using the beeswax produced by my bees, or from other beekeepers/suppliers, I melt and filter the wax and then cast it into solid blocks. The wax can then be used to make either candles or polish. Beeswax has a multitude of other uses, a search on the internet will reveal many examples, some of the more common uses are listed below:-

• used to lubricate wood screws reducing the risk of splitting and crack
  

• reduce sticking on widows and drawers by using the beeswax on draw runners or window tracks

• run your sewing thread against a block of beeswax a few times, allows the thread to slide through the fabric.

• use beeswax to make your own crayons

• 'lost-wax' method of casting metal

• use a layer of beeswax to seal jams and jellies

You can buy beeswax from me by following this link.

So, how do I melt the wax?

I use an old food steamer to gently melt the wax, around 1 liter of wax can easily melted in one session. The wax is placed in a 1L plastic jug and placed into the steamer. I don't cover the top of the jug and any water the drips into the jug helps to clean (or retain the 'dirt') the wax. When melted the wax is carefully poured into moulds for candles or for convenient storage. I always leave a little wax in the jug along with the water to prevent any 'dirt' being poured into the moulds. It is important to carefully melt the wax, not only as the wax is flammable, but also excessively high temperatures will discolor the wax.