It was a hot, sunny day and I was fully dressed in my bee suit, sweat dripping down my forehead as I struggled to unglue the frames in my beehive.
A few weeks ago, I had put an empty frame in the hive and I was eager to see if the bees had filled it. I wasn't disappointed. It was completely transformed-a masterpiece of glistening beeswax and delicious honeycomb.
As a beekeeper, I've witnessed some of the most amazing feats of honeybees. But this has to be one of the most awe-inspiring. Bees visit an incredible 30 MILLION flowers to produce a single pound of wax (about two 8-oz candles).
But wait…I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the bee-ginning. This is the story of how honey bees make beeswax. And it starts with the birth of a baby bee.
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The first job of a young worker bee
Throughout their lives, honeybees have many jobs from cleaning the hive and feeding the babies to collecting pollen and nectar.
One of the first jobs young worker bees are assigned when they are just days old is to make beeswax.
Unfortunately, the bees can't just go outside and gather beeswax. They have to create this magical substance.
How is beeswax made?
All female worker bees are born with four pairs of special wax-secreting glands on the underside of their abdomens. These unique glands give them a superpower. They can convert the sugar in honey into beeswax.
(I think humans should be updated with a set of these wax-producing glands. Imagine all the amazing beeswax candles I could create.)
Bees can only make wax for 7 days
Only the young female worker bees (ages 12 to 18 days) can make beeswax. The queen can't make it. The male bees (drones) can't make it. Even the older bees can't make it. This is because their wax-making glands atrophy as worker bees age.
Surprisingly enough:
The glands stop working after about seven days of use!
So, the younger bees happily take on this important task. Thankfully, the queen bee is constantly laying eggs. This means there will always be new bees to take over the wax-making job.
Interestingly, not all bees can make wax. Beeswax mainly refers to wax produced by the honeybee Apis mellifera. Although some species of bumblebees make wax, the honeybee is the only bee that produces enough wax to share with humans.
The important role of temperature
After a honeybee secretes wax from its glands, the liquid is exposed to the air. The wax then hardens into small wax scales or thin wax flakes as they are sometimes called.
A healthy worker bee can make about eight scales of wax in a 12-hour period. This might sound impressive but the hive requires 1,000 wax scales to make a single gram of wax.
Thankfully, a hive is home to thousands of bees (60,000 to 80,000!) so they have many wax-making helpers.
So, why is temperature so important?
For a honeybee to secrete liquid wax, she needs warm temperatures above 16 degrees Celsius. The wax hardens at lower temperatures. To keep the temperature around the comb-building area warm enough, the bees will huddle together to generate body heat.
Crafting honeycomb from belly wax
Once a honeybee has begun to secrete wax, she uses the stiff hairs on her hind legs to scrape it from her belly. The bee then chows down on it. Yes, you read that right. She chews the waxy secretion mixing it with her saliva and enzymes to make it pliable enough to begin comb construction.
The bee then thoughtfully shapes the now soft wax into perfect hexagonal cells to form a honeycomb. Incredibly, she can use her mouth to measure the thickness of the honeycomb as she builds it to help her judge whether more or less wax is needed.
Bees are geniuses:
They have figured out that the hexagon shape allows for the maximum use of space with the least amount of wax.
Nectar, honey, and wax creation
Since bees require a mixture of plant pollen and honey to produce wax, they will try and schedule their comb-making during times of nectar flow. After eating their fill of nectar, the bees convert it into honey in their honey stomach. The sugars are then transformed into wax.
Honeybees have to eat 6 to 8 pounds of honey to make a pound of wax! according to the British Bee Keepers Association.
Making beeswax is so energy intensive, that young bees will engorge themselves with honey and then secrete wax while resting motionless next to the site of the comb building.
Interestingly:
Wax is so precious to the bees that they will reuse old comb by chewing it off and placing it elsewhere in the hive.
How honeybees use beeswax
Beeswax is essential to the bees. Here are just some of the many ways they use this incredible substance:
- Shelter: Honeybees use wax to build their home. They don't nest underground in empty holes like other species. Instead, they build their hives in tree cavities or on branches.
- Pantry: Honeybees use beeswax for pollen and honey storage.
- Nursery: The queen lays her eggs in the hexagonal cells, creating a kind of "nest" to raise her baby bees within.
- Capping the Honey: Once honey matures, worker bees cap the filled cells with a thin layer of beeswax. This capping preserves the honey, preventing moisture from spoiling it during winter.
- Propolis Production: Bees mix beeswax with tree resins to create propolis-a sticky substance used to seal cracks, reinforce hive structure, and protect against intruders.
What is beeswax used for?
Once a year, I harvest the honeycomb from my hive to extract its sweet, golden honey. To do this, I have to first remove the wax cappings from the honey cells. Instead of discarding the wax, I clean the beeswax and then keep the treasured substance to make lip balm, healing salve, and beeswax candles.
As a safe and natural wax, beeswax also has many other uses:
Beeswax Candles: Crafting beeswax candles is one of my favorite DIY projects. These homemade candles burn cleanly, produce very little smoke, and will burn about 1.5 times longer than soy or paraffin wax candles.
Skincare and beauty products: Pure beeswax is a key ingredient in skincare like lip balms and creams. It helps retain moisture, adds firmness, and extends their shelf life.
Natural polish: Beeswax is often used to polish wood and leather items.
Food Preservation: Beeswax wraps are a fun, sustainable alternative plastic cling film.
Fun facts about beeswax
- Beeswax was used as a dental filling in prehistoric times. A 6,500-year-old human mandible with traces of beeswax filling was found in Slovenia.
- Beeswax contains long-chain fatty acids and alcohols that may boost heart health.
- Ancient Egyptians used beeswax for mummification and to seal coffins.
Final thoughts
So, the next time you're enjoying the warm glow of a beeswax candle or swiping on your favorite beeswax lip balm, I hope you'll think of the tireless honeybee!
Are you ready to dive deeper into the world of beeswax? Here's how to clean, melt, and make your own beeswax from honeycomb and wax cappings. You can also buzz over to my posts on making a healing beeswax salve, beautiful beeswax candles, or whipping up some beeswax lip balm.
PIN IT FOR LATER!
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