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Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by of the genus Apis. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of , which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers collect and use it to form cells for honey storage and larval and pupal protection within the beehive. Chemically, beeswax consists mainly of of fatty acids and various fatty alcohol.
Beeswax has been used since prehistory as the first plastic, as a lubricant and waterproofing agent, in lost wax casting of metals and glass, as a wood finishing for wood and leather, for making candles, as an ingredient in cosmetics and as an artistic medium in encaustic painting.
Beeswax is edible, having similarly negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in most countries and in the European Union under the E number E901. However, due to its inability to be broken down by the human digestive system, it has insignificant nutritional value.
The new wax is initially clear as glass and colorless, becoming opaque after chewing and being introduced with pollen by the hive worker bees, becoming progressively yellower or browner by incorporation of pollen oils and propolis. The wax scales are about across and thick, and about 1100 are needed to make a gram of wax.Brown, R, H. (1981) Beeswax (2nd edition) Bee Books New and Old, Burrowbridge, Somerset UK. Worker bees use the beeswax to build honeycomb cells. For the wax-making bees to secrete wax, the ambient temperature in the hive must be .
The book Beeswax Production, Harvesting, Processing and Products suggests of beeswax is sufficient to store of honey. (1984). 9781878075062, Wicwas Press. ISBN 9781878075062 Another study estimated that of wax can store of honey. Top-bar beekeeping in America .
Sugars from honey are metabolized into beeswax in wax-gland-associated fat cells. The amount of honey used by bees to produce wax has not been accurately determined, but according to Whitcomb's 1946 experiment, of honey yields of wax.
The wax may be clarified further by heating in water. As with petroleum waxes, it may be softened by dilution with mineral oil or vegetable oil to make it more workable at room temperature.
Beeswax is a fragrant solid at room temperature. The colors are light yellow, medium yellow, or dark brown and white. Beeswax is a tough wax formed from a mixture of several chemical compounds.
Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of . If beeswax is heated above discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is .. No reported autoignition temperature has been reported
When natural beeswax is cold, it is brittle, and its fracture is dry and granular. At room temperature (conventionally taken as about ), it is tenacious and it softens further at human body temperature ().
Pharmaceutical grades of pure beeswax are distributed in the shape of pellets for the cosmetic, phamaceutical and food industries, among other uses.
Refined beeswax plays a prominent role in art materials both as a binder in encaustic paint and as a stabilizer in oil paint to add body.
Beeswax is an ingredient in surgical bone wax, which is used during surgery to control bleeding from bone surfaces; shoe polish and furniture polish can both use beeswax as a component, dissolved in turpentine or sometimes blended with linseed oil or tung oil; modeling waxes can also use beeswax as a component; pure beeswax can also be used as an organic surfboard wax. 'Raw Beeswax Uses" , MoreNature Beeswax blended with pine rosin is used for waxing, and can serve as an adhesive to attach reed plates to the structure inside a squeezebox. It can also be used to make Cutler's resin, an adhesive used to glue handles onto cutlery knives. It is used in Eastern Europe in egg decoration; it is used for writing, via resist dyeing, on batik eggs (as in pysanky) and for making beaded eggs.
Beeswax is used by to make a surface on for thumb rolls. It can also be used as a metal injection moulding binder component along with other polymeric binder materials. 'Metal Injection Molding Process (MIM)" , 2012 EngPedia
Beeswax was formerly used in the manufacture of phonograph cylinders. It may still be used to seal formal legal or royal decree and academic parchments such as placing an awarding stamp imprimatur of the university upon completion of postgraduate degrees.
Purified and bleached beeswax is used in the production of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. The three main types of beeswax products are yellow, white, and beeswax absolute. Yellow beeswax is the crude product obtained from the honeycomb, white beeswax is bleached or filtered yellow beeswax, and beeswax absolute is yellow beeswax treated with alcohol. In food preparation, it is used as a coating for cheese; by sealing out the air, protection is given against spoilage (mold growth). Beeswax may also be used as a food additive E number, in small quantities acting as a glazing agent, which serves to prevent water loss, or used to provide surface protection for some fruits. Soft gelatin capsules and tablet coatings may also use E901. Beeswax is also a common ingredient of natural chewing gum. The wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolysed in the guts of humans and other mammals, so they have insignificant nutritional value. Beeswax absorption and toxicity. Large amounts of such waxes in the diet pose theoretical toxicological problems for mammals. Some birds, such as , can digest beeswax. Beeswax is the main diet of wax moth larvae.
The use of beeswax in skin care and cosmetics has been increasing. A German study found beeswax to be superior to similar barrier creams (usually mineral oil-based creams such as petroleum jelly), when used according to its protocol.
In oil spill control, beeswax is processed to create Petroleum Remediation Product (PRP). It is used to absorb oil or petroleum-based pollutants from water.
Processing
Beeswax as a product for human use may come from cappings cut off the cells in the process of extraction, from old comb that is scrapped, or from unwanted burr comb and brace comb removed from a hive. Its color varies from nearly white to brownish, but most often is a shade of yellow, depending on purity, the region, and the type of flowers gathered by the bees. The wax from the brood comb of the honey bee hive tends to be darker than wax from the honeycomb because impurities accumulate more quickly in the brood comb. Due to the impurities, the wax must be rendered before further use. The leftovers are called slumgum, and is derived from old breeding rubbish (pupa casings, cocoons, shed larva skins, etc.), bee droppings, propolis, and general rubbish.
Physical characteristics
14 35 14 3 4 8 1 2 12 1 6
Chemical composition
An approximate chemical formula for beeswax is C15H31COOC30H61. Its main constituents are palmitate, palmitoleate, and oleate of long-chain (30–32 carbons) aliphatic alcohols, with the ratio of triacontanyl-palmitate CH3(CH2)29O-CO-(CH2)14CH3 to cerotic acid CH3(CH2)24COOH, the two principal constituents, being 6:1. Beeswax can be classified generally into European and Oriental types. The saponification value is lower (3–5) for European beeswax, and higher (8–9) for Oriental types. The analytical characterization can be done by high-temperature gas chromatography.
Adulteration
Beeswax faces challenges in the market due to the presence of various suppliers, making it difficult to distinguish authentic from fake variants. Adulterated beeswax often contains paraffin and toxic additives, posing potential health risks and lacking the genuine honey-scented aroma of pure beeswax.
Production
In 2020, world production of beeswax was 62,116 , led by India with 38% of the total.
+ Beeswax production – 2020 23,716 5,339 4,970 3,765 3,758 62,116
Uses
Candle-making has long involved the use of beeswax, which burns readily and cleanly, and this material was traditionally prescribed for the making of the Paschal candle or "Easter candle". Beeswax candles are purported to be superior to other wax candles, because they burn brighter and longer, do not bend, and burn cleaner. It is further recommended for the making of other candles used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. 'Altar Candles", 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia Beeswax is also the candle constituent of choice in the Eastern Orthodox Church.[3], Use of Candles in the Orthodox ChurchUwe Wolfmeier, Hans Schmidt, Franz-Leo Heinrichs, Georg Michalczyk, Wolfgang Payer, Wolfram Dietsche, Klaus Boehlke, Gerd Hohner, Josef Wildgruber "Waxes" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2002. .
Historical uses
Beeswax was among the first plastics to be used, alongside other natural polymers such as gutta-percha, horn, tortoiseshell, and shellac. For thousands of years, beeswax has had a wide variety of applications; it has been found in the tombs of Egypt, in wrecked Viking ships, and in Roman ruins. Beeswax never goes bad and can be heated and reused. Historically, it has been used:
See also
External links
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