| For almost as long as we have been collecting honey | | | | millennia ago - mixed into pigment it was applied to |
| from bees, we have also been gathering and using | | | | canvasses when painting with the 'encaustic' method. |
| beeswax. It is used in many forms, to make art, | | | | These pictures are some of the best-preserved |
| candles and medicines, and many of these practices | | | | examples of Egyptian art, demonstrating the |
| continue today. | | | | resilience of beeswax. The wax was heated and |
| The source of Beeswax | | | | used as the 'carrier' for the powdered pigment - |
| It's the honeybee that produces beeswax - in | | | | before being baked in the heat of the sun to seal it. |
| particular the worker bees that use the wax to build | | | | In medieval times most candles were made of tallow |
| their honeycomb. They have special glands on the | | | | - usually from animal fats. However, these candles |
| underside of the abdomen that secrete the wax, | | | | tended to sputter and give off foul odors, and in the |
| which emerges as a transparent liquid that the bees | | | | Middle Ages the Catholic church decreed that only |
| then chew and mould into the cells of their comb. | | | | pure beeswax candles should be burned in their |
| When the wax dries it turns into a hard, white | | | | churches. Traditional church candles today are still |
| substance, though because of the presence of pollen | | | | made from beeswax. Because of beeswax's superior |
| it is often yellowish, or even red. It's because of this | | | | quality, it was very expensive, however, and only the |
| process that beeswax retains a faint smell of honey, | | | | richest could afford beeswax candles for their home. |
| one of its best-loved properties. | | | | There is mention of beeswax being used as a skin |
| Beekeepers have gathered beeswax since ancient | | | | softener in Roman times, and the wings of Icarus |
| history - it's still a laborious process compared to | | | | were reputedly fixed with the substance. Cosmetic |
| synthetic or petroleum based waxes. The wax is | | | | products today, particularly of the 'luxury' type, |
| collected from the hive, melted down and then | | | | sometimes contain beeswax. It is also mixed with |
| fashioned into 'cakes'. These cakes are very durable, | | | | linseed oil and turpentine to produce an excellent |
| and have been traded for centuries as a long-lasting | | | | furniture polish. |
| commodity. In some parts of the world beeswax is | | | | A substance with so many varied and beneficial uses |
| still the most readily available type of wax, and is | | | | has understandably always been regarded as very |
| used for many different purposes from healthcare to | | | | precious - for this reason beeswax is quite valuable, |
| gardening. It can be used to graft plants onto new | | | | and in fact used to be a form of currency. In Europe |
| stems, as it is pliable and weatherproof. | | | | several governments called for payment in beeswax |
| History | | | | - for rent, taxes or fines. No wonder it's always been |
| Beeswax was used in Ancient Egypt around 2 | | | | so highly prized! |