Apiary Diary - September 2021
Updated: Dec 23, 2021
September in the Apiary
From mid-August onwards we begin planning for the winter, including a check that each hive has sufficient honey stores. As we move into autumn and temperatures fall, queens lay fewer eggs and more brood cells are available, so workers can start transferring excess summer honey from the boxes above (known as ‘supers’) to the brood area to be closer to the overwintering bees.
However, this September has been very mild, extending the season, and while flowers are still in bloom, our bees continue to bring in nectar and pollen (telling us that young bees are still being raised and fed).
During September, ivy is a major food source for most pollinators, but our bees are also attracted to other September flowers, including nearby larkspur, sedum, Michaelmas daisy and penstemon.
Beautiful beeswax
When harvesting summer honey, or cleaning up beehive frames, we always save the wax comb and any scrapings, as beeswax is incredibly useful and versatile. Some is used in next year’s hive frames, as ‘starter strips’ for comb-building, and we use the rest is for candle-making and beeswax melts.
So what is beeswax, why is it so special, and how is it processed?
Beeswax in the hive
Honeybees—and only honeybees—produce beeswax. Workers secrete wax from special abdominal glands on their undersides, and it is manipulated and shaped so as to produce sheets of the characteristic hexagonal honeycomb cells that are used to store
food and raise young.
New wax is quite soft and pliable, but
becomes more rigid in time, and as it is strengthened with propolis (a bee resin) and old pupae casings, and also through clever design, whereby the hexagonal cells on one side of the sheet overlap with the backs those on the other side, producing a stronger overall structure.
Chemically, beeswax is compound of esters and fatty acids. These contribute to its physical qualities—notably a pleasant aroma, water repellence, lubricative qualities, low density (it floats
in water), and a high strength-to-weight ratio. It is also an excellent conductor of
vibrations—a property exploited by bees for fast communication within in the hive.
Human uses for beeswax
For centuries, if not millennia, humans have found many uses for Beeswax: candles for lighting, timekeeping and ceremonies; polish and preservatives for wood and leather; making watertight seals; and cosmetics and skin treatments. In more recent times it has been employed as a lubricant (good for squeaky door hinges, freeing sticky drawers, etc); waxed cotton food wraps (an eco-alternative to cling film); and in the home to purify the air (or perhaps to add sparkle to a romantic evening!).
Beeswax vs. soy and paraffin
Beeswax candles have many advantages over paraffin and soy candles. They are far more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Paraffin is a product of fossil fuels and the petro-chemical industry, while soy is associated with deforestation. Beeswax candles are denser and burn longer (unless you use the ‘rolled sheet’ type rather than solid wax).
Studies have shown paraffin candles to emit hazardous substances, though whether concentrations are high enough to cause harm is disputed.
Beeswax candles burn brighter (with a similar spectrum to the sun), and produce a wonderful aroma, reminiscent of the beehive, or maple syrup, some say. Not least, they bring health properties: their negative ions help to remove pollutants from the air, and can combat against dust and mould spores—a great benefit for those with allergies and respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Processing beeswax
When harvesting honey, we save any loose comb and wax fragments (or ‘cappings’). If these are still sticky with honey residue they are given to the bees
to clean up first.
To render them into clean beeswax, we use a simple but effective solar wax melter. This comprises a large insulated container, with a removable glass cover angled sunwards. Inside are two trays—the upper to receive and melt the unprocessed wax, and the lower one to collect the clean the molten wax.
The container traps and magnifies the sun's heat (like a greenhouse) to melt the wax, which slowly drips through
small holes in the upper tray into the water-filled lower tray, where it solidifies into yellow sheets (with a texture not unlike solidified volcanic lava). The clean wax can then be stored and used as needed.
This method requires no gas nor electrical heating—just solar power. No chemicals are added, and the wax is entirely pure. Nothing is wasted: any debris left in the upper tray is shaped into pellets, to be used either as beehive smoker lighters, or as a bee attractant in 'bait hives' to entice next year's swarms.
Candle-making
When we are ready to make candles and melts, the wax sheets are melted down in a double saucepan wax melter (like a bains-marie). It is gently heated (beeswax melts at about 65⁰C), and avoiding the use of direct heat prevents inadvertently scorching or even igniting the wax. If any particles remain suspended in the molten wax, they can be strained out using muslin cloth.
The molten wax is left to cool slightly, before being transferred into silicone moulds. For candles, the wick needs to be of an appropriate thickness relative to the diameter of the candle to burn at the optimum rate. It is threaded through the mould base (prior to pouring) using a wicking needle, and secured with a light clamp to keep the wick centred as the wax solidifies—this ensures an even burn.
Melts are made similarly, though have no wick, of course. Once they have fully cooled and solidified, the candles or melts are carefully released from their mould, and checked (any that don't pass quality control can be melted for re-use!).
When in stock, our candles, melts and mini-melts can be purchased from the Apiary Shop.
Mark, Botley Meadow Bees, September 2021