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Beeswax is a tough wax formed from a mixture of several compounds secreted by honeybees in the form of thin scales from glands on the ventral surface of the abdomen and used in building the honeycomb cells in which the young are raised and honey and pollen are stored. Approximately eight pounds of honey is consumed by bees to produce one pound of beeswax. When beekeepers go to extract the honey, they cut off the wax caps from each honeycomb cell. Its color varies from yellowish-white to brownish depending on purity. Wax from the brood comb of the honeybee hive tends to be darker than wax from the honey comb. Impurities accumulate more quickly in the brood comb.
Beeswax has a high melting point, near 64°C. Beeswax does not boil, but continues to heat until it bursts into flame.
Beeswax is used commercially to make fine candles, in polishing materials, as a component of modelling waxes, and in a variety of other products. Beeswax candles are preferred in most Eastern Orthodox churches because they burn cleanly, with little or no wax dripping down the sides and little visible smoke.
See also: esters.
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