Does anyone use their bees wax after harvest?

[chigger bait]

I have about 4 pounds of bees wax in the freezer from harvesting honey this past June and need to come up with some ideas on how to best utilize it.

It is the cappings from two supers that I extruded and the comb and foundation from another super that I crushed and filtered.

I've looked into making lip balm with it and ordering tubes on line, but wondering how members of the forum used their wax.

From what I can tell on line, the dollar value of the wax is worth more than the honey.

 

[texas75563]

I have no bees. I am considering it. How about making candles? http://www.candlemakingconnection.com/How-to-Make-Beeswax-Candles.html

Candle making can be very fun and exciting. The only limitation is your imagination. You can buy molds or build your own. You can go scented or unscented. You can add colors, single or multiple colors. I had a lot of fun as a kid making candles!

 

[chigger bait]

I have no bees. I am considering it. How about making candles? http://www.candlemakingconnection.com/How-to-Make-Beeswax-Candles.html
Candle making can be very fun and exciting. The only limitation is your imagination. You can buy molds or build your own. You can go scented or unscented. You can add colors, single or multiple colors. I had a lot of fun as a kid making candles!

My wife is all for this.

She says that bees wax doesn't smoke.

 

[smac]

My father is a beekeeper and I use his wax for making hand cream.

 

[beaglady]

Mine gets used in lip balm. I've only got a few hives, which get no miticides or antibiotics, so I like to keep my 'pure' wax for lips. I have small soap business, and need more wax than I can produce, so I keep my own for lips, and when I have enough, other salves.

Diane W

 

[funnyfarmllc]

I use mine in candle making. Works great with the right recipe

 

[NanaKat]

I give mine back to the bees.
It takes so much energy for the bees to produce the wax from their honey stores. They reuse it and maintain the honey flow.

 

[musikfan6]

Hey! I didn't realize this part of the forum was here. This is great!

I saw this post about beeswax. I am DYING to start up beekeeping. My grandfather was from Northern PA and had about 14 hives of his own. I wish that I would have known that I would be interested because I probably could have had all his equipment. At any rate, I want to continue the family tradition, so I hope to get started in the next year or so. I'm trying to get this chicken thing down first, but I'm hoping that my passion for beekeeping will equal that of my chickens. Our family is really getting into the homesteading thing in the past two years. I have my garden, now my chickens, and hopefully my bees in the next year.

Someone told me it costs roughly 200.00 to get started. Would you agree on this figure, or is it more/less?


Good day to you all!

 

[beaglady]

You're pretty close, with the $200 figure. A package of bees is about $80, plus boxes, frames, foundation, bee suit, etc.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

You could always make little bars out if it. They are useful for everything from use in crafts (Candle making, soap making, etc.), to pysanky, to household uses! We bought a few bars from someone who raises bees and he gave us a nifty little hand out about all the little uses.