Honeybees on a brood comb with open and capped brood

Beeswax is a natural, waxy substance produced by honeybees. It primarily serves as a building material for the combs in the beehive, where honey is stored and brood is raised. Its versatile properties make beeswax a valuable raw material in many areas of our daily lives.

Uses

Beeswax blocks for making natural cosmetics

Cosmetics: In creams, lip balms, and ointments
Candle making: For naturally scented, long-burning candles
Wood care: As a natural polish for furniture
Food industry: As a coating and releasing agent
Medicine: In ointments and as a carrier for medications
Crafts: For batik, encaustic painting, and other techniques
Musical instruments: For the care of wooden instruments
Beekeeping: For making foundation sheets for new honeycombs

Caution: Although beeswax is natural, some people can be allergic to it. Always test new products with beeswax on a small patch of skin first.

Production by Bees

Wax production: Young worker bees (12-18 days old) produce wax in special wax glands on the underside of their abdomen.
Wax scales: The liquid wax is secreted through small pores and solidifies into tiny scales.
Processing: The bees chew these scales and mix them with saliva, making the wax malleable.
Comb construction: With the malleable wax, the bees build the characteristic hexagonal cells of the combs.

Did you know? Beeswax only melts at around 62-64°C. This makes it ideal for building stable combs that won't melt even on hot summer days!

Extraction and Processing

Cappings Wax

This is the purest and highest-quality beeswax. It is collected during honey extraction when the wax cappings of the honey cells are removed. Since it is freshly built wax, it contains very few impurities and has a light, almost white color. Cappings wax is particularly suitable for:

Natural cosmetics and skincare products
Pharmaceutical applications
High-quality candles and crafts

During the honey harvest, the wax cappings are removed with a cappings fork

One-Year-Old Wax from the Honey Super

The combs from the upper parts of the beehive, where the honey is stored, yield medium-quality wax. This wax is:

Light to medium yellow in color
Largely free of brood and pollen residues
Ideal for making foundation sheets for new honeycombs
Suitable for most beekeeping purposes

We use the one-year-old wax from the honeycombs to make our own foundation sheets

Our Own Wax Cycle: Beeswax has the property of accumulating and storing contaminants over many years. These include pesticides from agriculture, environmental toxins, and residues from medications, etc. These substances can not only harm the health of the bees but also transfer into the honey. To provide our bee colonies with optimal conditions and ensure the highest quality honey, we operate with a closed wax cycle. We exclusively use our own, one-year-old wax to produce our foundation sheets.

Old Wax from the Brood Chamber

In the lower part of the beehive, where the brood is raised, the darkest and most contaminated combs are found. The wax obtained from this is:

Dark brown to black
Enriched with cocoons and brood residues
Suitable for candle making
Not usable for cosmetic or food purposes

Bees on a brood comb with colorful pollen cells

Processing Steps

Collecting and sorting the different qualities of wax
Gentle heating to 65-75°C for melting
Multiple filtering through progressively finer sieves or cloths
If necessary, additional cleaning through:
- Sedimentation in the molten wax
- Activated charcoal filtering for a lighter color
- Bleaching with sunlight (for special applications)
Pouring into block molds or direct further processing

Ecological Significance: Beeswax is a renewable resource, is completely biodegradable, and is a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based products like commercially available paraffin candles.