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BEESWAX
Source: Honeycomb of the honeybee (Apis
spp.).
Common/vernacular names:Beeswax, ble-
ached beeswax, white beeswax, white wax,
yellow beeswax, and yellow wax.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Beeswax is the wax obtained from the honey-
comb of the honeybee,Apis melliferaL., as
well as otherApisspecies, includingA. cerana
Fabricius (Family Apidae).
After the honey is removed from the hon-
eycombs, the combs are washed rapidly and
thoroughly with water. They are then melted
with hot water or steam, strained, and run into
molds to cool and harden.^1
There are three major beeswax products:
yellow beeswax, white beeswax (bleached
beeswax), and beeswax absolute (absolute
cire d’abeille). Yellow beeswax is the crude
beeswax first obtained from the honeycombs.
White beeswax and beeswax absolute are
derivedfrom yellow beeswax, the former from
bleaching with the combined action of air,
sunlight, and moisture (or with peroxides) and
the latter by extraction with alcohol. Beeswax
is produced worldwide.
Yellow beeswax is a yellow to brownish
yellow or grayish brown solid with an agree-
able honey-like odor and faint but character-
istic taste; it melts between 62 and 65C.
White beeswax is a yellowish-white solid
with a faint, characteristic odor, less pro-
nounced than yellow beeswax; it is almost
tasteless and translucent in thin layers; melts
between 62 and 65C.
Both yellow wax and white wax are insol-
uble in water, slightly soluble in cold alcohol,
partly soluble in cold benzene, and completely
soluble in chloroform, ether, and fixed and
volatile oils.
Beeswax absolute is a pale yellow solid
with a mild, sweet, and oily odor reminiscent
of good linseed oil with a trace of honey notes,
depending on sources.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
Beeswax (yellow and white) contains over 80
different compounds, largely made up of hy-
drocarbons, alkanes, fatty acids, fatty alco-
hols, free fatty acids, fatty acid monoesters,
fatty acid polyesters, diesters, monoesters,
triesters, hydroxypolyesters, 1,2,3-propane-
triol monoesters, unsaturated linear fatty
acids, and hydroxyacids.2–4 Oxygenated
volatiles in beeswax include octanal, furfural,
1-decanol, and benzaldehyde with decanal
84 Beeswax
