Beeswax
Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus Apis.
The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive.
The hive workers collect and use it to form cells for honey storage and larval and pupal protection within the beehive.
Beeswax has been used since prehistory as the first plastic, as a lubricant and waterproofing agent, in lost wax casting of metals and glass, as a polish for wood and leather, for making candles, as an ingredient in cosmetics and as an artistic medium in encaustic painting.
Beeswax is edible, having similarly negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in most countries and in the European Union under the E number E901.
Its color varies from nearly white to brownish, but most often is a shade of yellow, depending on purity, the region, and the type of flowers gathered by the bees.
The leftovers are called slumgum, and is derived from old breeding rubbish (pupa casings, cocoons, shed larva skins, etc.
[9][11] Beeswax faces challenges in the market due to the presence of various suppliers, making it difficult to distinguish authentic from fake variants.
[12] Pharmaceutical grades of pure beeswax are distributed in the shape of pellets for the cosmetic, phamaceutical and food industries, among other uses.
[20] Beeswax blended with pine rosin is used for waxing, and can serve as an adhesive to attach reed plates to the structure inside a squeezebox.
It may still be used to seal formal legal or royal decree and academic parchments such as placing an awarding stamp imprimatur of the university upon completion of postgraduate degrees.
Beeswax may also be used as a food additive E901, in small quantities acting as a glazing agent, which serves to prevent water loss, or used to provide surface protection for some fruits.
The wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolysed in the guts of humans and other mammals, so they have insignificant nutritional value.
In oil spill control, beeswax is processed to create Petroleum Remediation Product (PRP).
For thousands of years, beeswax has had a wide variety of applications; it has been found in the tombs of Egypt, in wrecked Viking ships, and in Roman ruins.
