Beeswax

Beeswax (Genus Apis)

Genus Apis is the genus that plays the most important economic role in the beeswax commerce. There are different species belonging to this genus: the giant bee (apis dorsata), a medium sized bee (apis indica), the tiny East Indian bee (apis florea) and the domesticated honey bee (apis mellifica). Originally, the honeybee was named Apis mellifera by Linnaeus in 1758, and he changed the name later to Apis mellifica. In a more general sense, the term Apis mellifera denotes honey carriers or bearers; while Apis mellifica produce honeycombs of almost pure wax, commercially known as “genuine beeswax”.

There are many races of Apis mellifica all over the world. For example: the black bees of Caucasia, Carniola and Banat; in Great Britain and Europe exists the brown bees. In Cyprus, northern Italy and the Holy Land, and propagated in the United States we can find the yellow bees, and all these exist in variants or strains with mixed colors. The waxes obtained from these races do not differ much in physical characteristics or chemical constants.

There are other bees that are used as honey makers and wax producers; for example the Apis facista in northern Africa (regarded as the prettiest bee in the world), the Apis adansonni in Senegal; Apis caffra and Apis scutelata in southern Africa, Apis unicolor (regarded as the blackest bee) in Madagascar and it has been introduced to other parts of the world. The previously mentioned East Indian species Apis dorsata, Apis florea and Apis indica; produce a different wax from the ones mentioned above, they produce Ghedda wax.

Secretion of Wax by the Bee

The wax scales are secreted by eight wax glands on the under side of the abdomen of the worker bee. The wax is liquid when secreted, since it is derived from the blood of the bee by cell action. The secretion rapidly hardens to a pearly scale, more or less transparent, like mica. The wax scale is removed from the abdomen by a hind leg of the insect, and received by the mandible of a co-worker, where it is chewed with a secretion, before being placed in the cell of the comb. The comb is constructed in a hexagonal pattern, which provides structural strength and maximum economy of space. In the natural comb there are 4.83 cells to the linear inch, or 825 cells to the square decimeter. The bees are believed to deploy about eight pounds of honey to secrete one pound of wax.

Comb foundations are provided for hive-bees so as not to waste honey; 1.5 to 3 pounds of wax can be obtained from ten combs when they are scraped. The largest amount of wax is in the foundation and in the capping, since the sidewalls are remarkably thin. A practice to be severely condemned is the artificial manufacture of comb foundations from hydro-generated vegetable oil wax, ceresin, paraffin, or other false waxes, as such spurious foundations eventually may find their way into the beeswax of commerce as highly undesirable impurities.

Coloration of Beeswax

Vansell and Bisson of the California Agricultural Experimental Station made a study of the coloration of beeswax. Freshly secreted beeswax is white, but it readily absorbs colors from various sources. Some pollens carry yellow substances, which are liberated to the beeswax as either solid or liquid state. A cell in a new bee comb, as well as the walls of the adjacent cells, become very yellow when melted (in glass) with fresh pollens collected from various plants. It was found that color was liberated from pollen much more slowly after the grains had become dry. For example, the color imparted to white beeswax by the golden pollen of the sunflower, Helianthus bolanderi, is a bright orange-yellow; that of the golden pollen of the California poppy, Papaver californicum, a brilliant orange yellow; that of the bright yellow dandelion, Taraxacum officinale Weber, a bright yellow; that of the brown pollen of the white clover, Trifolium repens L., only a trace of yellow; that of the pollens of alfalfa, flax, hollyhock, and many others, none.

Much of the crude bees wax imported from Cuba and other Caribbean countries is distinctly brown. It has a strong beeswax odor, masked to some extent by a tobacco-like smell. The pollen of tobacco plants is said to be responsible for both the off-odor and the off-color of this wax. Beeswax from South American sources is often lacking in pronounced color or odor, even though free from the adulteration by paraffine, sometimes found in Chilean beeswax. Crude beeswax from West Africa has a definite yellow color and a strong beeswax odor, and is characteristically blackened at the edges of the pieces. Some of these characteristics distinguish one beeswax from another as to origin. The aromatic bodies and coloring matter in beeswax are soluble in 80 per cent ethanol and insoluble in petroleum ether.

Rendering of Crude Beeswax

Crude beeswax is usually rendered from the frames and from scrapings by melting over hot water or under solar heat. In the hot-water extraction process the container is partially filled with boiling water, and the beeswax from broken combs or cappings added. It is common practice to soak the combs in cold water for several hours before melting, so that when the wax is melted over the boiling water, it will not be absorbed by its impurities, and also to wash out the water-soluble substances. The melted wax floats on the surface; and is strained with the water through a wet cloth to remove bee and cocoon fragments and other foreign matter. Upon cooling, the wax solidifies into a cake on top of the water; dirt is removed by scraping the bottom of the cake. Dragging the mass with cheese­cloth fastened to a hoop, and permitting the wax to harden on cooling can also accomplish the straining. The cake is then removed.

If the combs are rendered on a large scale the melted wax is removed from the hot-water container by decantation from the surface; any residue is placed in layers of straw and pressed to obtain more wax, the straw acting as a filter. A wax press employing hot water for this purpose is available; the product is called "press wax". High-or-low pressure steam is a good indirect source of heat for melting wax. The water used in the melting process should have a low mineral content. Stainless steel or aluminum is desirable for wax-processing equipment. Wood or glass makes an excellent container for the manipulation of wax, which will become contaminated by the use of iron equipment.

Solar Extraction Process

In the "solar extraction process” exposing it to the sun in a solar extractor can render the crude beeswax from the cappings. Sun melting reduces the intensity of its color and removes soluble contaminating substances by coagulation. Vansell and Bisson state that one large producer in the Sacramento Valley in California, in preparing cappings for solar extraction, lets the cuttings fall into cloth boxes, which are supported over a long, shallow draining trough, thus allowing the cappings honey to run into the general stream from the extractor. As each box is filled, it is slid along the rack and replaced by an empty one. When the cappings are sufficiently drained of honey, each box is transferred to an individual solar extractor. A long, narrow extractor could be constructed to accommodate several of these boxes, thus increasing the efficiency of the process. Galvanized iron is satisfactory construction material for the solar extractor.

In preparing the best quality of wax for commerce it is common practice to pare off the capping of the honey cells and then place the comb in a centrifugal machine (extractor), which removes the honey and leaves the comb undamaged so that it can be replaced in the hive to be refilled by the bees, and thus save the honey they would use in making a new comb. Such a prepared wax is of a good grade, as it is free from propolis, a greenish brown, resinous substance that the bees use in sealing the cells in the comb and for attaching it to its support. The bees obtain the resin from the branches and leaves of the birch, ash, elm, balsam, poplar and other trees. When a comb has been refilled by the bees several times and is melted down, the wax is very brown, and strong in odor.

Sources of Beeswax

Top 5 beeswax producers (2013, in tonnes)
India	23,200
Ethiopia	5,000
Argentina	4,700
Turkey	4,235
Republic of Korea	3,063
Source: UN FAOSTAT

More than fifty years ago Herbig attempted to show the world-wide distribution of beeswax in the following manner. Europe: Germany, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, and France. Africa: Egypt, East and West Africa. Asia: Syria, Ceylon, Singapore, Bombay, Madras and Burma. America: California, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Domingo, Brazil and Chile. It will be noted that the list is a comprehensive if not complete one. There is no other natural wax known that has so wide a distribution as beeswax. The United States imports much of its beeswax from Brazil, the Caribbean countries, Chile, and Benguella in West Africa.

Constants of different grades of Beeswax

Beeswax	Specific Gravity at 15 ºC	Melting Point ºC	Acid Value	Saponification Value	Ester Value	Ratio Value (Ester Value divided by Acid Value)	Unsaponi- fiables %
Yellow Beeswax (Cera Flava)	0.958 - 0.970	62 - 64.0	17 - 23	87.0 - 97	70 - 80.0	3.3 - 4.0	50 - 56
White Beeswax (Cera Alba)	0.958 - 0.970	62 - 64.0	18 - 24	90.0 - 102	70 - 80.0	3.3 - 4.0	50 - 56
Extraction Beeswax (Unbleached)	0.953 - 0.957	61 - 62.5	23 - 27	92.0 - 95	66 - 70.5	2.4 - 3.0	50 - 56
Extraction Beeswax (Bleached)	0.970 - 0.984	69 - 72.5	22 - 30	91.5 - 104	69 - 77.5	2.5 - 3.3	50 - 56