Who has ever thought about what beeswax is and how it is produced? What we know very well is that bees give us honey. But the production of this insect does not depend only on that. But it also offers other products comparable to love in value and benefit. Perhaps the most important of these products is wax, the primary material for making beehives, as bees need about 150,000 miles of flight to create about a pound of wax. Oils extracted from pollen are mixed with beeswax to turn white polish into brown or yellow wax. Let’s get to know more about this important article.
What is beeswax, and how is it produced?
Worker bees make beeswax inside their colonies, as workers have special wax glands at the bottom of their stomachs. They secrete a kind of liquid wax that will solidify upon contact with air, but as worker bees age, their wax glands will atrophy. This task is automatically passed on to younger bees.
These peak-stage bees can produce up to eight scabs in 24 hours. A colony needs about 1,000 wax scales to form just one gram of beeswax. This will be used to create the honeycomb, the geometry of this disk and the way the bees used to shape it allow for increased storage space.
How to use beeswax in the hive to form a honeycomb
Worker bees who use their glands to make wax use stiff bristles on their hind legs to eliminate the wax residue on their stomachs. And that’s after this wax hardens, making removing it faster. But you may not know the mechanism the bees use to accomplish this.
The bees pass the wax into their mouths through their middle legs, chew it into a pliable substance, and then shape it into artfully hexagonal hives that will become a honeycomb. Their mouths also have another function as they measure the disc during the shaping process, estimating whether the amount of wax used is sufficient or needs to be adjusted.
Physical properties of beeswax
*Beeswax cannot be dissolved in water.
*Within a temperature of 15 degrees, the wax will become softer and more flexible, and its elasticity will increase from 45-48 degrees.
* Beeswax melts at 64 degrees Celsius, turning directly into liquid between 64-65 degrees.
* Wax has a specific, distinctive smell and unique taste. In addition to its shape, which was created by bees in its composition.
* If you want to melt beeswax, you can do so if you add turpentine at average temperature, even in hot alcohol.
* The density of beeswax ranges between 0.95-0.965% cubic centimeters or grams.
Chemical composition of beeswax
Have you ever thought about the materials and elements that make up wax? To fully answer the previous question, “what is beeswax,” you must know its chemical components. These are the materials that make up beeswax:
* Saturated hydrocarbons by 14%.
* 2% polyester.
* Fatty acids by 12%.
* Low percentage of sugar.
* Other materials and flavors by 6%.
* 1% alcohol.
* Myricin is estimated at 65% of the total wax tablet weight.
* Mono-esters of not more than 1%. Since beeswax is a natural substance, it undoubtedly provides a great benefit to humans, whether by using it after mixing it manually or after introducing it by manufacturing certain materials to obtain the optimum benefit.
Benefits of beeswax
Benefits for the skin
The most important benefits and uses of beeswax are for skin care. Where cosmetics experts have presented natural mixtures containing it and industrial preparations that include wax mainly in its composition, it contains an essential percentage of vitamin A, known as an antioxidant, which is precisely what the skin needs.
Beeswax also can add moisture, shine, and hydration to dry skin. In addition, D acts as an anti-inflammatory and antiseptic for the skin, so many use it to help treat eczema, acne, and several skin problems.
Liver benefits
We mentioned earlier that beeswax contains antioxidants, which researchers focused on after conducting a study on a mixture of beeswax alcohol and its effect on fatty liver patients. To be shown the ability to improve liver function and even improve symptoms of this disease.
Benefits of lowering cholesterol
The wax esters that make up beeswax contribute to reducing the level of cholesterol in the blood, and it can also raise the proportion of lipoprotein, which is the good cholesterol, at a rate of up to 15%.
In the end, the question is, what is beeswax? One of the scientists’ concerns is that it is still at the fore in their research where scientists are looking at the different types of bees and the different wax they produce. Whether a colony’s host environment and food quality make a difference to the quality and benefits of beeswax.
