Beeswax
By David Fisher, About.com Guide
The History of Bees Wax:
Mind your own beeswax Eat your own fish And don’t poke your nose Into my little dish!
The original candle wax, beeswax has been a part of candle making for as long as wax candles themselves have been made. (I'm not counting the rushes dipped in tallow as "wax" candles.) The ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and Persians all had many uses for beeswax - dolls, death masks, sculptures, writing pads, as a painting medium, and of course, as candles. Beeswax has been found in ancient tombs, deep underwater in shipwrecks - nearly as good as the day it was made.
Where Does it Come From:
Well, as you might guess, beeswax comes from bees. But it's the worker bees inside the hive that make the wax. The worker bees eat honey and then excrete the wax out of glands on their abdomens. It takes about 10 pounds of honey to produce one pound of beeswax. The wax is then used to construct the honeycomb - which stores the honey, and serves as the home where the queen, honey, worker and baby bees live.
What Kind of Candles Does it Make?:
Pretty much any type of candle can be made with bees wax, from votives, pillars, containers and molded creations. It's a heavy, sticky wax, so it seems to work best in molds that are either small or flexible, like silicone molds, or in two part molds that easily come apart. One of the most common ways that beginning candlemakers make candles out of beeswax is in pre-made sheets. These sheets are rolled out and often stamped with a honeycomb pattern. It's easy to just lay a wick on a piece of the beeswax sheet and roll it up to make an instant candle. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author:  64413 ( Click here )
Halloween is Right around the corner.. .
|
