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How beeswax is useful for the human body - properties and applications. All about beeswax

Bees are a unique creation of nature; these little buzzing workers produce huge list products with valuable beneficial properties: honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax also belongs to these products.

A fat-like product produced by wax glands is used by bees as material to form small containers for honey - honeycombs. Many people believe that beeswax is a waste or an auxiliary product; in fact, it is such a valuable healing product, like other bee products.

Benefits of beeswax

Beeswax has a very complex biochemical composition, it largely depends on what area the bees are in and what they eat. On average, wax contains about 300 substances, including fatty acids, water, minerals, esters, hydrocarbons, alcohols, aromatic and coloring substances, etc. Wax also contains vitamins (it contains a lot of vitamin A - 4 g per 100 g of product), therefore it often acts as the main component of many cosmetics (creams, masks, etc. .).

Wax is insoluble in water, glycerin and practically insoluble in alcohol; only turpentine, gasoline, and chloroform can dissolve wax. At a temperature of about 70 degrees, the wax begins to melt and easily takes any shape.

Use beeswax in pharmaceutical and for cosmetic purposes started in the distant past. Wounds were covered with wax, this protected the damage from infections and moisture. And since the wax contains a high content of antibacterial substances, it prevented the development of inflammation and accelerated healing.

Wax, as well as burrs (cut off upper wax layer from honeycombs, that is, the “lids” of honeycombs with honey residues) are widely used to treat the oral mucosa: for stomatitis, diseases of the gums and teeth.

Wax is very plastic, it is easy to chew; when chewed, it massages the gums, tongue, and cleanses the teeth. In ancient times, when there was no toothpaste, wax was chewed to cleanse teeth and freshen breath. For inflammation of the gums, nasopharynx (sinusitis), pharyngitis and tonsillitis, it is also recommended to chew zabrus (half a teaspoon) every hour for 15 minutes.

Beeswax mixed with propolis and lemon juice will help you get rid of calluses and corns. For 30 g of wax you need to take 50 g of propolis and add the juice of one lemon. They make cakes from the resulting mixture, apply them to the calluses and secure them with an adhesive plaster, after a few days you need to soften the calluses in a soda solution (2% solution) and the calluses are easily removed.

Wonderful anti-aging products for dry and aging skin are made from beeswax. If your facial skin is flaky (too dry or chapped), a mixture of wax will help you, butter and juice (carrot, cucumber, zucchini), add a spoonful of softened butter and juice to the melted wax - mix well and apply the mixture to your face. After 20 minutes, wash off.

This mask is also great for dry hands, applying the warm mixture to the back of the hands and wrapping them further, prolonging the warming effect of the compress. After 20 minutes, the skin of your hands will be “like a baby’s” - young, refreshed, elastic and smooth.

Contraindications to the use of beeswax

  • Individual intolerance
  • Allergy

The benefits of bee products are widely known. One of the best is beeswax, which has many beneficial properties and is widely used in folk medicine.

What is beeswax, how to melt it and use it correctly, you will learn from our article.

What is beeswax

Beeswax is a complex organic compound that is a waste product of bees. It is a solid substance that has a characteristic odor of honey, white to yellow-brown in color, sometimes with a greenish tint (Figure 1).


Figure 1. What beeswax looks like

The substance is insoluble in water, almost insoluble in alcohol, begins to melt at a temperature of +70 degrees and in a softened state can easily take any shape.

How is this substance formed? He is singled out honey bees from special glands for the construction of cells. It is produced most intensively by young bees. Spring colored in White color, later - in yellow (Figure 2).

Note: Over time, the surface of the honeycomb cells accumulates various substances, the remains of cocoons, which leads to a decrease in the diameter of the cells themselves. Their color changes first to brown, then to completely black.

Such aged honeycombs are no longer suitable for use by bees, and therefore are used as raw materials for wax production. The darker the honeycomb, the less raw material it contains.


Figure 2. The process of substance formation

To obtain pure product, you need to know how to melt it correctly. To do this, wax-containing raw materials are melted, and the extraction of the melts with organic solvents makes it possible to obtain wax for technical purposes.

The procedure for obtaining this product is shown in detail in the video.

Compound

In fact, this substance consists of fifty different chemical compounds, of which the majority (75%) are essential oils, then saturated hydrocarbons (11-17%) and fatty acids (13% to 15%), as well as water (2.5%). %).

Note: Essential oils prevent chemical reactions with other substances, so the product can be stored for a long time.

Saturated hydrocarbons contain the maximum number of hydrogen atoms. They are insoluble in water, just like fatty acids. Feature fatty acids is the ability to become colored when interacting with metals. So, when wax comes into contact with iron, the former acquires a brown color, and copper changes the color of the substance to green.

Wax is rich in vitamins A, so it is often used in the manufacture of cosmetic skin care products.

Benefits of beeswax

Having decided what beeswax is, you should learn about its benefits and harms. How is it useful? The product has strong bactericidal properties, therefore it is used to treat various inflammatory, wound and burn injuries to the skin and mucous membranes, as well as for ulcers. Chewing the substance is recommended for tonsillitis and other inflammatory diseases throat and oral cavity.

You should know that this is also a good natural sorbent, which cleanses the body no worse activated carbon. At internal use it helps to activate the digestive system and improves peristalsis, as well as tidies up the intestinal microflora and gets rid of dysbacteriosis.

Where to get beeswax and how to choose it

It is safest to purchase it in specialized stores that sell honey and beekeeping products to avoid counterfeit products. And yet, it is worth learning to distinguish a real product from fakes.

Our tips will help you with this(Figure 3):

  1. The natural product does not contain any foreign additives.
  2. Color - white, yellow, grayish.
  3. The smell is honey, sometimes with a taste of propolis. White doesn't smell.
  4. Almost does not stick to the teeth and can be easily removed with the tongue.
  5. The surface of the ingot is flat or slightly concave. When struck, it easily splits, while the cut is matte with a clearly visible fine-crystalline structure.
  6. When kneading, it easily softens and becomes plastic. There is no greasy feeling.
  7. Drowns in alcohol, strength 44 degrees.

Figure 3. Appearance quality product

Where is beeswax used?

Thanks to your unique properties natural product received wide application in various industries: pharmaceuticals and cosmetology, food and electrical industries.

Traditional medicine values ​​it for its anti-inflammatory and softening effect, and ointments based on it are excellent for treating colds and skin inflammations.

This beekeeping product is also used in cosmetology: as in pure form, and as part of various masks, creams, shampoos.

In folk medicine

The use of this product in traditional medicine is aimed at treating various diseases, and to maintain youth (Figure 4).

So, traditional healers It is recommended to chew it during inflammatory processes in the oral cavity. Its use helps cure diseases such as stomatitis, sore throat, and gingivitis. Additionally, teeth are cleaned of plaque, and gums stop bleeding and become stronger. By stimulating metabolism, the substance increases the secretory and motor functions of the stomach. This product is one of the natural antibiotics because it reduces the growth and stops the development of pathogens.


Figure 4. Application options in folk medicine and cosmetology

As an external remedy, it is used to eliminate defects in the skin of the feet, when joint pain, as well as for cosmetic purposes.

In cosmetology

This product is often an integral part of various cosmetic creams, ointments, and masks. It has a wide range of effects: from strengthening the nail plate to getting rid of wrinkles.

In addition, hair care products containing this product make hair soft and manageable, giving it good volume and healthy shine. Hair masks based on it promote the healing of split ends. They are indispensable for modeling and styling hair.

This product works great with problem skin, ranging from signs of aging to acne. It has a nourishing, softening and protective effect.

At home

Beeswax can be safely used at home for both treatment and care.

To do this, you need to know exactly what is best to dissolve it and what properties the product may have.

Against calluses and corns

Widespread problem plantar corns and warts. A mixture of wax and propolis will help to cope with it. Heat it in a water bath, then add a little lemon juice and dried lemon balm.

The resulting mixture is applied to problem areas of the feet, secured with a bandage and left for half an hour. Positive result noticeable after the first use. To get rid of calluses ready mixture Apply daily until the desired result is obtained.

For joint diseases

For joint diseases, prepare a mixture of 200 g of wax and 1 tablespoon of honey. The resulting substance is heated in a water bath and used as an impregnation for compresses. The compress is applied to the sore joint, covered with paper, wrapped in woolen cloth and left for 30 minutes. Then the compress is removed and the joint is wrapped in a terry towel for 15 minutes.

Like lip balm

A homemade lip balm based on this substance will be a worthy competitor to any lipstick, since it is not only nutritious, but also extremely healthy. It is quite simple to prepare it at home.

Note: To prepare lip balm, you will need 20 g of beeswax, 30 g of any liquid oil (you can use a mixture of oils), a few drops of essential oil for aroma, and a small container for the prepared mixture.

The wax is melted in a water bath, then added to it base oil, mix, remove from the water bath. At this stage, you can add 2 teaspoons of honey for more nutrition, beat well with a whisk. You can’t rush, because poorly mixed ingredients will result in a too dry, flaky balm. Finally, add the essential oil and pour the resulting mixture into the prepared container. Leave until hardened. A properly prepared balm should be soft enough to be easily applied with your fingers.

When preparing various mixtures at home, you need to know how to properly melt the substance. Since this substance has a complex chemical composition and is quite high density, then the process of its interaction with other substances is quite difficult. Thus, it is completely insoluble in water and glycerin, and almost insoluble in alcohol. But it reacts well with gasoline and turpentine, ether and chloroform, as well as with various fats.

Therefore, before combining it with any substance, you must first melt it in a water bath. Already in a liquid state it is easy to dissolve in paraffin or dilute essential oil(Figure 5).

Note: Most convenient ways melting at home is called heating with steam and heating in the microwave.

In the first case, you will need a metal bowl half filled with water, a container and a stove. The container with the substance is immersed in a container of water and heated. 15 minutes after boiling, the substance will begin to melt, turning into a liquid state.


Figure 5. Substance heating technology

Melting in a water bath is a gentler method. Heating it in microwave oven leads to its rapid overheating. As a result, it begins to boil, which can negatively affect its structures. For using a hot product for cosmetic purposes, the first method is better suited, but for household purposes, both will work well.

How to clean beeswax at home

Since the natural product contains many impurities in the form of honey residues and cocoon particles, to obtain quality substance carry out the cleaning procedure. At home cleaning is carried out physical method, which involves sequential filtration and sedimentation.

Note: Filtration is carried out during heating using nylon fabric, gauze or metal mesh. The hot liquid product is filtered through a filter, leaving large contaminant particles on it and small ones remaining.

Settling will help get rid of small contaminant particles. To do this, the wax is melted and placed in water for several days. To prevent it from cooling down and thickening, the container must be wrapped to retain heat. As a result of this event, small particles settle to the bottom or remain at the border with water. When the substance hardens, they can be easily removed from the surface using a regular knife.

From the video you will learn how to use wax at home.

Wax is the second beekeeping product after honey, which contains up to 75% ester compounds formed by neocerotinic, palmitic, oleic and melissic acids, melissic and ceryl alcohols.

Due to the high bactericidal properties of this biologically active substance, it has long been used in medicine. Even the famous scientist and physician Avicenna in ancient times described its beneficial properties and recommended it as an emollient and expectorant for coughs, as well as increasing milk lactation in nursing mothers.

The basis for many cosmetic and pharmaceuticals is beeswax. There are a huge variety of recipes that include beeswax. But perhaps one of the most common is the healing “miracle ointment”, which has a wide range of applications.

Recipe for “Miracle Ointment”
Compound:

  • 200 grams of olive oil (can be replaced with refined vegetable oil);
  • 30 grams of beeswax;
  • half the yolk of a pre-boiled chicken egg.

Preparation:
Pour in vegetable oil into an enamel bowl, place the crushed wax there and keep on low heat until completely dissolved. Gradually add half of the yolk, previously mashed with a fork, into a vessel with heated oil and wax. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes, after removing from heat, let it brew for 10-15 minutes (make sure that the composition does not thicken). It is advisable to strain through a nylon cloth, pour into a glass container and store in the refrigerator.

The effectiveness of this ointment is amazing! If it needs to be laid, it is heated to 40° in a water bath.

« Miracle ointment cures:

Sinusitis.
It is necessary to take the melted ointment into a pipette and immediately drop it into the nose at the very advanced sinusitis. With double instillation at intervals of one hour, it is possible to get rid of even an old disease. Making their way maxillary sinuses and the ointment literally draws out the pus with amazing power!

Purulent sore throat, abscesses and abscesses in the throat.
Apply a compress to your neck. With frequent (every hour) use, started in the evening, by morning the abscess will ripen and burst.

Purulent otitis.
Insert a cotton swab soaked in heated ointment into the ear and change as needed. At the same time lubricate the area behind the ear. The pus is drawn out with powerful force. Treats any otitis media.

Pain in the stomach, intestines, styes in the eyes, boils.
Before meals, take half a teaspoon of ointment orally three times a day.

Gangrene, trophic ulcers.
Apply wipes with ointment, which must be changed every 2 hours. Treatment will be accompanied copious discharge pus and a sharp relief of the condition.

Women's diseases: mastitis, mastopathy, inflammation of the appendages, cyst
ovary, fibroids (up to 10 weeks)
Apply a napkin soaked in ointment to the chest, with a compress on top
paper (can be cellophane). Change, preferably every 2 hours.
Cure from fibroids involves more
long but effective course.

Toothache, boils, burns, swelling, pain in the knee joints.
Apply the ointment to the affected tooth and gum with clean, washed fingers. Regularly apply compresses to your knees, sore spots and wounds at night and there will be no trace of the sores.

If you rub the ointment into your nails at night, they will noticeably become stronger and stop peeling.

Note: It is better to buy natural wax from beekeepers. If the ointment is needed for oral use, take olive oil, any is suitable for external use.

Wax and wax therapy

By its chemical nature, wax is a complex mixture of more than 300 substances, and man has not yet succeeded in creating artificially wax equivalent in quality to beeswax.

The wax contains 24 esters (70-75%), 12 free acids (12-15%), epoxy, keto and hydroxy acids, beta-carotene, lutein esters, water, minerals, cholesterol esters, resins, terpenes, propolis, some pollen impurities, remains of cocoons, etc.

Since ancient times, people have known the healing properties of wax: softening and absorbent, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing. Avicenna also recommended beeswax to his patients as a cough softener and as an expectorant. Women made cakes from wax and rye flour to absorb hardenings, knots and lumps on the chest; For the treatment of mastopathy, wax-based ointments were made.

Wax therapy is a treatment with wax, but it should be understood somewhat more broadly - treatment using wax (to enhance the effect of other medicines). This method of influencing the human body is primarily external (ointments, patches, lozenges, etc.), although other forms are also possible.

According to dermatologists, beeswax is good for the skin; in composition it is close to a number of components that make up sebum, promotes the formation of a waxy film on the surface of the skin, preventing its dehydration.

In folk medicine, beeswax is also used to treat diseases such as inflammation of the maxillary cavities, asthma, hay fever, allergic runny nose. With all this, preference is given to chewing honeycombs or wax caps of honeycomb cells (zabrus) - 5-6 times a day for 15-20 minutes. When chewing honeycombs or wax caps, the flow of vitamins and other biologically important substances into the body will increase significantly. active substances, the processes of cleaning teeth and disinfecting the oral cavity and food tract are improved, the motor function of the intestines is activated, the secretion of saliva increases and gastric juice, which ensures the most efficient digestion.

Modern medical science confirmed the presence in the wax of substances that retard the growth and development of a number of pathogens, as well as substances whose action is similar to that of antibiotics.

It is recognized that due to the presence of carotene and vitamin A, wax (when mixed with other drugs) is useful in the treatment of certain skin diseases, pneumonia, bronchitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity and pharynx (with gingivitis, sore throat, stomatitis, glossitis, etc.).

As a heat source for pain syndromes wax is used like paraffin or ozokerite (mumiyo) for osteochondrosis, arthrosis, adnexitis, etc.

At correct use Wax therapy is painless.

It is very important that the wax for treatment is of high quality and natural.

Wax is most widely used in the pharmaceutical industry as a base or emulsifying agent in the manufacture of plasters (sticky, mercury, sweet clover, soap), ointments (wax, spermaceti, lead, zinc, etc.), suppositories, medicinal creams, etc. To significant extent Wax is used in large quantities in the manufacture of a wide range of dental preparations and dentures.

Try medicinal products made of wax

Sometimes the body reacts poorly to a particular drug in a wax lozenge or ointment. Therefore, before any procedure it is necessary to do a test. From the semi-cooled wax mass prepared according to the recipe, form a small (2x2 cm) cake and apply it to a delicate area of ​​​​the skin. Insulate and wrap with a bandage or adhesive plaster. After 1-2 hours the reaction is checked.

If the skin in the place where the cake lay is swollen, red, or any other symptoms of an allergic reaction appear, this medicinal component in the wax cake is contraindicated for you.

Lubricate the inflamed skin with boric petroleum jelly or hydrocortizone ointment, and after a while try changing the composition if other interchangeable products are recommended for your illness.

Medicines homemade

Wax patch

When used externally, it plays the role of a warming compress and at the same time, when the drug is introduced into the composition, it is an additional therapeutic factor.

  • For oncological diseases: at the location of the diseased organ, make a fly agaric mesh (from fly agaric tincture) and cover this place with a slightly warm (almost cold) layer of melted wax for 30-40 minutes. The course of treatment is 10 days.
  • For bronchitis, pneumonia: rub chest warming rub and cover with a layer of melted wax at a tolerable temperature. Keep until cool. Use until relief occurs.
  • For myositis, radiculitis and other acute neurological conditions caused by drafts or hypothermia: massage, rub well sore spot bee venom(Apizartron ointment, etc.) and cover it with a moderately hot layer of melted soft wax. Keep until cool. Use until relief occurs.

    Wax cakes

    Successfully used in the treatment of colds and inflammatory processes, spasms and neuritis, oncological diseases and tuberculosis.

    The composition of the wax cake can include tinctures of poisons, herbs and roots, flowers, leaves and minerals, pollen and propolis - depending on the disease. The composition for the wax cake can be of any weight; it depends on what size lozenge you need (according to the diseased organ). Recipes usually give only the concentration of the main components.

    Before using this or that composition, it is necessary to make a test.

    Anti-tuberculosis lozenge

    Ingredients: per 100 g of beeswax - 3 g of propolis.

    The value of propolis is that it kills Koch's bacillus (a tuberculosis pathogen resistant to alcohol, alkalis, and acids).

    Melt the wax over low heat in an enamel bowl; grate propolis onto fine grater and stir with a wooden spoon into the melted wax (until a homogeneous mass is obtained).

    Before applying the cake to the naked body, rub it into the skin alcohol tincture propolis.

    Cover the cake with linen cloth and insulate it with a woolen scarf.

    The propolis cake can be used up to 10 times, melting it again over low heat and applying it hot.

  • Tuberculosis patients need to drink at the same time as wax therapy water solution propolis (in a ratio of 1:10).
  • A wax cake with propolis can also be used to treat bronchitis, pneumonia, and to relieve coughs of any origin. Propolis cakes are also used as a remedy against malignant tumors skin and oncological diseases of other localization (Found)
  • For cancer patients, the cakes should be refrigerated.

    Wax ointments

    Homemade wax ointments are used for mastopathy, lipomas, and cancer (if a resorption effect is indicated).

    Absorbable ointment

    Ingredients: pork internal fat (healthy mesh is better), beeswax, laundry soap(total equally).

    Grind everything, pour into an enamel bowl and cook over low heat until a homogeneous mass is formed, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.

    Apply a thin layer of cooled ointment to the sore areas, like a cream. The duration of treatment depends on the type of disease.

    Warming ointment

    Ingredients: pork internal fat - 100 g, beeswax - 100 g.

    Melt over low heat in an enamel bowl pork fat and wax, stirring the mixture with a silver spoon until smooth. Squeeze a tube of ointment with bee venom (“Apizartron”) into the slightly cooled mixture, mix quickly and thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

    First, lubricate the sore spots like a cream, thoroughly rubbing into the skin, and then apply a 1-2 mm layer of ointment, cover with linen cloth and insulate.

    Specifics of using wax medicinal products

    Before applying a wax patch or lozenge to a sore spot, wash the desired area of ​​the body warm water with soap. Wax therapy gives much greater effect, if it is preceded water procedures- skin pores are cleansed, opened, and as a result the effect is achieved faster and to a greater extent.

    After the procedure, do not get up immediately, lie quietly for 30-40 minutes.

    Any wax mass can be used several times. You just need to remember: wax has the ability to take on all kinds of sick energy and negative information. After any wax therapy procedure, the wax mass must be immediately melted in an enamel bowl: heat treatment burns pathogenic energies.

    When reusing the wax mass, the dose of the medicine can be reduced approximately by half, since medications are able to partially retain their properties.

The applications of this amazing wax are so extensive that it is simply amazing. It is used in medicine, cosmetology, even in the aviation industry!

Bee wax is widely used in cosmetology. Many creams are made from it, which are used to strengthen nails, smooth out wrinkles and simply nourish the skin.

For nails

Beeswax is highly effective means for the care of nail plates and hands. By itself, it does not strengthen the nails, but it provides excellent protection.

It is very easy to use to protect and strengthen your nails. Due to its consistency, it melts quickly at body temperature. You just have to knead a piece of the substance in your hands, and then rub it into the cuticle and nail plate with massage movements. The substance is quickly absorbed without leaving any traces. A kind of protective film is formed on the nail.

With this product you will forget about fragility forever nail plates and the formation of a hangnail. This miracle drug should only be applied to clean nails.

Application in medicine

Of course, when talking about beeswax, we cannot ignore medicine. IN medicinal purposes it is used in the treatment of boils, lupus, periodontal disease, runny nose and lupus. Various ointments are made from it, which have a simply magical effect, healing scars and scars. Many remedies can be prepared at home. The use of beeswax in medicine is not limited to external use. Sometimes it is taken orally.

In medicine, various creams, ointments and plasters are made only on the basis of beeswax!

In gynecology

Wax is also used in gynecology. Based on it, many candles are made that show an excellent effect. It is also used to increase milk production in nursing mothers.

In cosmetics

In cosmetics

The main criteria for the use of wax in cosmetology are: cosmetics are its emollient, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. In addition, it does not enter into chemical reactions with other components, which makes it an ideal substance with preservative properties for the manufacture of ointments and creams. It helps to form a protective layer on the skin, which protects it from excessive dryness, gives it tone, makes it elastic and smooth, but also does not penetrate deep into the cells, which means it does not clog pores. It is important that products based on it very quickly heal burns, abrasions, scratches and inflammation.

Yellow wax

To create cosmetics, preference is given to the yellow type of product, as it contains a lot of vitamin A. When bleaching, it is destroyed. All cosmetics with wax are divided into many groups.

Cosmetics groups

  • Creams with UV protection.
  • Cleansing lotions.
  • Body and face creams.
  • Ointments for calluses and corns.
  • Cuticle and nail products.
  • Lip balms and lipsticks.
  • Creams and hair removal products.

At home

To treat various diseases and inflammations, as well as to prevent them, beeswax can be used at home. The easiest way is to chew it; in this case, no manipulation is done with it. You can also strengthen your nails with pieces of this substance. If you wish, you can prepare a lot at home various ointments and creams that are aimed at certain problems.

In industry

Of course, almost all of the resulting product is returned back to beekeeping in the form of foundation (about 70 percent). Bees build their honeycombs on this artificial foundation. It is also made from church candles. In medicine, it is added to a huge number of ointments. Soap can also be made from such a product. It has also found wide application in metallurgy, cosmetology, leather, aviation, paint and varnish industries, printing and electronics.

Such wide range use of this product indicates its high quality and many beneficial properties. Beeswax does it all. an indispensable tool in our world!

Video

Many people know about the benefits of honey. But the bee apiary is not famous for it alone: ​​in addition to this product, hard-working bees produce many other useful things. And today we'll talk about one of them - about beeswax.

What do we know about this product? The first thing that comes to mind is church candles. In fact, fragrant natural beeswax with a unique chemical composition is used everywhere: in industry, in Everyday life, in cosmetology and medicine.

Beeswax is an amazing product natural origin. Despite all attempts, man has not yet been able to create a synthetic analogue of beeswax, which would be able to have the same active effect on human health as the product produced by bees.

Bees need wax to build honeycombs, where they then carefully store nectar. But the scope of beeswax application is not limited to this. Remarkable properties this unique product found application in many areas National economy and at home.

How is wax obtained?

Wax is produced mainly by young bees from the age of twelve days. By this time, they stop secreting royal jelly and actively eat pollen and nectar. In order for a bee to produce wax, its body must contain enough enzymes.

In special glands (located on the abdomen of insects) wax is formed, which begins to be released in small drops through the pores. Over the course of a season, a family of bees can produce up to 3 kilograms of wax and use it to furnish their hive and build honeycomb cells.

New honeycombs just built are 85-100% wax. Before placing nectar or eggs in the honeycomb cells, they are polished with propolis, due to which the wax is also enriched with propolis and acquires a yellowish tint.

After a couple of years, the color of the wax honeycomb changes (they acquire darker brown shades), and the cells decrease in volume. This affects the wax content in the combs (its amount decreases to 40-60%) and the quality of the brood, which becomes smaller and bee family gradually loses its strength. Honeycombs that have served their useful life are discarded and commercial wax is produced from them.

Pure wax is extracted using the method (or pressing) directly in the apiary from old honeycombs, cut wax caps, wax superstructures, the remains of various non-waxy substances in the hive (the remaining cocoons after the brood leaves the cells, bee bread, larval feces, remains in the cells of honey). To remove all dirt and obtain high-quality wax, the resulting raw material is melted and then filtered more than once. Then the wax, frozen in the form, is removed and used for its intended purpose.

Read also: Beeswax face masks are an amazing product for beautiful skin

Wax obtained directly from the apiary is considered the best. Its other types (depending on the processing method and the quality of the raw materials) are inferior to it in properties and quality:

  • press wax, which is obtained industrially;
  • extraction wax (extraction with gasoline), which is too soft, smells bad, with high content resins and fats, it is most often used in the chemical industry;
  • bleached wax (the bleaching process occurs either chemically or naturally - in the sun), very hard, but fragile to break, used in industry. Pure white wax is rare in nature. More often it is obtained artificially: it is bleached, industrially removing all impurities and at the same time destroying the beneficial substances contained in it.

Characteristics of wax

Natural beeswax is a dense substance with a crystalline structure (granular and homogeneous at the break). At room temperature it is solid, but as the temperature rises it becomes plastic and can be easily kneaded in the hands.

The quality of wax depends on the melting temperature (the higher this indicator, the better). Refractory wax is more valuable and is more often used in folk medicine.

When burning, wax does not emit soot (this property allows it to be used in the production of candles for churches and temples).

Wax can be stored for a long time in a cool, dry place, fully retaining its properties. And in a glass container with a tight lid, its aroma and color will remain unchanged for a long time.

Natural wax is absolutely insoluble in glycerin and water and is slightly soluble in ethyl alcohol. When heated, it dissolves well in essential and fatty oils, in gasoline, in carbon disulfide, turpentine.

When interacting with metals, the color and quality of the wax may change. It is not recommended to use metal utensils for reheating.

Fresh honeycomb wax has a light color (cream or almost white). He is valued the most. Later, under the influence of substances containing propolis, it turns yellow.

The wax in honeycombs that have served for more than one year gradually darkens, acquiring dark yellow, brown shades and even black. The darker the honeycomb, the less wax it contains. Also, the color of the wax is influenced by the coloring substances found in propolis and pollen, partially contained in it.

Wax composition

According to scientists, beeswax contains more than 300 active substances and chemical compounds. The most important of them are esters (the main component of this product), saturated hydrocarbons, a small amount of water, free fatty alcohols and acids, carotenoids, aromatic, mineral and coloring substances, vitamins, impurities in the form of remains of larvae, propolis, pollen.

By chemical composition it is similar to fats, but more complex. Esters, the content of which reaches up to 75%, protect the wax from chemical reactions in contact with other substances, which provides this substance with such a long shelf life. Wax in excellent condition, retaining its qualities, was found even in the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

Read also: Beeswax cream – natural remedy skin care

What are the benefits of beeswax?

Wax is one of the most important products in an apiary. This is partly due to the fact that it is mined in small quantities. But this is not the only reason why it is so valuable. Its healing properties have long been studied by our ancestors. Although even today the exact composition and its properties are not fully understood. And we often use beeswax at home using old recipes, which came to us by inheritance from our ancestors.

So, where and how can you use beeswax?

In creativity and in everyday life

IN Ancient Egypt wax was necessary for sacrifices and burials of the nobility. And our ancestors used wooden tablets coated with a layer of wax for writing long before the invention of paper.

For centuries, candles have been made from wax to illuminate churches and homes. It is used in ski wax, in cement for gluing plaster and marble, in mastic for grafting trees, in special pencils for drawing on glass.

Artists have long (and still do) painted with wax paints, which are distinguished by their great durability and beautiful shine. This is confirmed by finds during archaeological excavations and literary sources. Wax is also used to create sculptures and in children's art.

In industry and national economy

Wax is a raw material for many industries. It is used in electrical engineering, foundry, textile, aviation, perfume, automotive, pharmaceutical, paint and varnish, printing, chemical industries and other areas.

Folk and traditional medicine

Introduce traditional medicine It’s simply impossible without beeswax-based recipes. Healing properties this bee product, containing wax, bee bread, pollen and propolis, allow it to be used in medicine to nourish the skin, hair and nails, heal various skin lesions, relieve inflammatory processes, relieve pain from rheumatism and arthritis.

This natural antibiotic, which has bactericidal and anti-inflammatory properties, - excellent remedy for colds. It is used as a natural antidepressant, to strengthen the immune system, and to improve metabolism.

Legendary doctors of antiquity: Avicenna, Pliny, Hippocrates - did not ignore beeswax.

Thus, the outstanding physician of the Middle Ages, Avicenna, recommended the use of this product for nursing mothers to increase milk lactation and as an expectorant and emollient for coughs and sore throats.

Hippocrates suggested that patients with sore throat apply warm wax compresses to the chest and neck.

Scientist Ancient Rome Pliny noted that fresh wax was considered the most useful. Having studied its properties, he discovered that this product is able to draw out infection from wounds and heal various injuries and skin diseases, as well as warm, soften and promote skin renewal.

Such qualities of wax as elasticity, plasticity, softness, insolubility in water, low temperature melting, beeswax is considered an indispensable component for many pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations that are prepared on its basis - these are all kinds of ointments, warming bandages, and plasters.