How do bees make Beeswax?
Beeswax is produced by bees in the form of tiny scales which are "sweated" from the segments on the underside of the abdomen. To stimulate the production of beeswax the bees gorge themselves with honey or sugar syrup and huddle together to raise the temperature of the cluster. To produce one pound of wax requires the bees to consume about ten pounds of honey.
http://www.honeyshop.co.uk/wax.html
How is the wax seperated from the honey?
Four main types of extractors are used to separate wax from honey and hive debris:
§ solar extractor : Solar extractors are insulated containers painted with a dark colour inside and covered with a single or double sheet of glass. The wax is placed on gauze or an excluder above a draining tray, and the molten wax flows into a mould
§ wax press : The wax press consists of a strong cylinder with a plunger attached to a coarse screw. Heating can be supplied by steam or an electric element. The press is partly filled with water and the contents soaked for a couple of hours before the heat is applied. After boiling gently until heat penetrates the material, the press is screwed down and most of the remaining wax floats to the surface. When the water level is raised, the wax flows out into a mould.
§ cappings reducer or melter: Cappings melters are commonly built of stainless steel and have an electric heating element in the base. The element is completely covered with water and the wax cappings added. By adding water into the bottom of the melter, the liquid wax rises until it flows out through a 1 to 3 mm gauze strainer into moulds. Moulds should have tapered sides to allow the wax to be easily removed.
§ hot box melter : melter consists of a stainless steel tank fitted with a honey gate at the base.The whole tank, except the outlet gate, is fitted into an insulated box. The box is heated with 'pyrotenax' cable or a fan heater with an accurate thermostat. Cappings containing honey from a cappings spinner are placed in the tank. As the honey and wax melt, the honey runs out the honey gate. When the honey has been removed, hot water is added to the tank to raise the level of the wax. After settling, the wax can be ladled out, or, if the tank is fitted with a water inlet and a spout, clean wax can be poured into blocks ready for sale
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/bees/4908.html
How is beeswax bleached?
The rich color of beeswax is a result of the floral sources the bees forage on. Beeswax is almost pure white when first secreted, but gets its color from the pollen and propolis the bees gather. The natural variations in color range from almost white to almost black.
http://www.blessedbee.ca/encyclopedia/beeswax/
There are three major types of beeswax: a yellow kind, a white variety (bleached beeswax), and beeswax absolute (absolute cire d' abeille ). Yellow beeswax is the crude beeswax first obtained from the honeycombs themselves. White beeswax and beeswax absolute are derived from yellow beeswax, the former by bleaching with the combined action of air, sunlight, and moisture (or with peroxides) and the latter by extraction with alcohol.
http://www.herbs2000.com/bee_products/beeswax.htm
White beeswax is produced by bleaching the constituent pigments of yellow beeswax with peroxides, or preferably it is bleached by sun light.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1973
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