Minnesota Beekeeping Mama, behind the scenes part 3: wax harvest and uses

The following is part one of a three part series I wrote for The Mother Hive last summer (2016), with a few updates and links. I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look into beekeeping. If you are looking for honey or garden products feel free to check out my page at Good Karma Honey & Apothecary.

I used crush and strain method for harvesting honey so I had more wax than most would at the end of the season. I did not have any old windows laying around but did find an electric roaster oven at a garage sale so I decided to use that to clean my wax. Here is a breakdown of how I cleaned my wax to get it ready for use.

1. I placed all my wax in a 5 gallon bucket. I added water and let it sit for a while to help dissolve the honey.
2. After it sat for a few hours I mixed it well and broke up any chunks which could be hiding honey.
3. I strained the wax through a metal strainer and rinsed as about two more times to really clean it up. (I did this all outside... it's a really messy job)
4. I setup my roaster with about 1-2 inches of water in the bottom. I used metal window screen and cut a piece of screen to fit over the top and tucked it under the inner liner of the roaster.
5. I placed a few paper towels on top of the screen. Then wax on top of that. I covered it and let it sit and roast.
6. I kept the temperature low (around 110-120) as I did not want to heat up the wax too much until I found a temperature that melted the wax and allowed it to filter through the paper towel and drip into the water bath below.
7. The paper towel caught all the gunk. I would add more wax as the wax melted through.
8. Once all my wax was filtered I turned it off and let it cool so the wax would harden in the water below.
9. Once hard you can break it loose. The wax was beautiful and smelled wonderful. From one hive I ended up with over seven pounds of wax using this method.  I broke it into pieces and put it into a bag for use to make chap stick, lotion, candles or whatever else I choose.

I love to create homemade beauty products. Two of my favorites uses for beeswax beauty products are chapstick and lotion bars.

Lotion Bar: I have been making these for years. I just love them and give them as gifts to all my friends and family. They are great for dry skin. Rub them in your hands and the heat from your body will melt the oil. These bars are very moisturizing. I get cracked skin along my finger nails in winter and I will rub my lotion bar on the cracks at bedtime. By morning the crack will be gone. Happy dance!

You can use lots of options to make this with different molds. I use a small loaf silicone mold but you could make hearts for Valentines or pour them into deodorant containers for easy use as well!

You will need:

1 cup beeswax

1 cup mango butter

1 cup coconut oil

1-2 tsp vitamin E oil or about 5 capsules of vitamin E

50 drops of essential oil

In a double boiler melt the beeswax, mango butter and coconut oil. Once melted, remove from heat and add Vitamin E and essential oils. Then pour into molds. Let completely cool before removing from mold or if using deodorant containers make sure its cooled completely before adding the cap.

This project takes about 30 minutes to prep and get into the molds. Most of that time again being the melting of the oils. Using the mold above I generally get 10-11 bars.

Chap Stick:

You will need:

6-7 lip balm tubes

1/2 tablespoon beeswax

1 tablespoon Shea butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 capsules or 1/2 tsp vitamin E oil

10-15 drops essential oils of your choice (like lavender, or lavender and peppermint)

1. First melt your beeswax, coconut oil and butter in a double boiler.
2. Once melted remove from heat and add vitamin E and essential oils. Stir well.
3. Gather your lip balm tubes with a rubber band for ease of filling. Slowly pour the balm into your tubes. Let it cool completely before capping.
4. Add cute labels or use decorative tape.

This is seriously so much fun. There are so many natural color combinations and essential oils you can choose from. For instructions on how to color your chapstick check out this post: Everything's better with glitter lip balm  

If you try it out, let me know what you make. I hope you have fun with it!

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Blessings!

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