Minding Your Beeswax
Instead of dirt and poison we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
— Jonathan Swift,
Beeswax is the most elegant of the waxes available for candlemaking. Just as silkworms are famous for making fine silk, bees make excellent wax. The bees are essential to life's natural processes, for they pollinate plants, including those that provide us with food.
As everyone knows, beeswax is produced by bees as a byproduct of their honeymaking. It is actually a secretion that they use to create the combs where the honey is stored and where the larvae are incubated. Though it may seem odd than an insect can manufacture wax in its system and then secrete it for building purposes, this is simply another of nature's miracles by which we are continually awed and astounded.
Amazingly, these little creatures not only make the wax and exude it, they shape it into perfect hexagonal shapes that are the tiny boxes that make up a honeycomb's structure. Each tiny hexagon has angles that are so accurately made, their margin of error is a mere 3 or 4 degrees from the average, an architectural marvel that results in the perfect use of space. This structure is so cleverly engineered that 1 pound of hive wax holds 22 pounds of honey, which is the optimal weight for the comb. Not only that, but bees all over the world, of whatever country or type, create hexagons out of their wax in the same structural proportions! Add to this capability their indispensable function of pollinating trees, fruits, flowers, and vegetables, and you'll never swat a bee again!
Beeswax, because it is permeated with honey during its preharvest life, naturally has a wonderful, sweet fragrance. Its odor will vary depending on what the bees are feeding on — which might be wildflowers, clover, avocados, or various herbs. Unrefined beeswax in the natural state has a golden yellow to brownish or reddish-brown color. It also contains plant parts and bits of the bees themselves.
Harvesting and purifying pure beeswax is a time-consuming, difficult process, so it is not surprising that beeswax is far more expensive than paraffin. However, one of its advantages is that it is long-lasting. Most pure beeswax is used in church candles, where it has been a standard for hundreds of years. (My father used to buy our candles for use at the dinner table from the local Catholic cathedral to which our family belonged; he believed that pure beeswax candles were the only permissible candles for the home.)
Beeswax ranges from pale yellow to darkest brown in color, according to the age and food supply of the bees. The raw wax smells of honey and has a taste reminiscent of balsamic vinegar. In the natural state, beeswax is soft to brittle. Technically, it has a specific gravity of about 0.95 and a melting point of about 140° Fahrenheit (60° Celsius). It consists primarily of free cerotic acid and myricin (myricyl palmitate) along with some high-carbon paraffins.
Beeswax is indeed lovely when it burns: It creates a warm, golden glow that nothing else can match, and the sweet honeyed smell permeates the house and the people's hair and garments. However, for budgetary purposes, beeswax can be combined with paraffin to make candles that will be long-lasting yet less expensive.
From Comb to CandleThe average bee consumes between 6 and l0 pounds of nectar (honey) to make each pound of the wax it secretes in small flakes from glands on the underside of its abdomen. After the beekeeper removes the honey from the honeycomb, the honey is melted and strained to remove impurities. Some artisan honeys are sold unfiltered and may have bits of wax in them. The waxy residue is pressed to obtain the beeswax. Honeybees that live in the United States and the Western World produce a distinctive wax that is somewhat different from wax obtained from the bees of East Asia.
After purifying, the beeswax is poured into molds to harden into blocks for commercial sale. Some beeswax is bleached to make a white product, but the natural honey color is much preferred by those who appreciate the qualities of beeswax.
Long ago, candlemaking was such an arduous affair, requiring careful and long attention to many details, that gossipy women — who apparently had time to take off from their domestic duties, including making beeswax candles — were sharply told to, “Mind your own beeswax.”
Insoluble in water, beeswax can be dissolved in such substances as carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, or warm ether. Because it is soluble in these chemicals, it is used as an ingredient in the manufacture of furniture and floor waxes, leather dressings, waxed paper, inks, and cosmetics.
Befriend a BeehiveSheets of beeswax were originally invented by beekeepers. These were, and are, used (in their natural color only) to line the beehives. This wax liner gives the bees a firm foundation on which to build the honeycomb. Thus, the beekeepers call beeswax sheets “brood foundation.” Beeswax candles can be made from foundation sheets. If you have a friendly neighborhood beekeeper, you might obtain them that way.
Store beeswax sheets at room temperature. When exposed to excessive cold, they can become brittle and crack, making the sheets unusable for rolled candles; excessive heat can melt beeswax. Don't leave it in a closed car trunk in summer.
