What is Beeswax Used For?

October 21, 2022 Tracey Bailey

Honeybees may be small, but the fruits of their labour have many uses. In fact, everything produced by a honeybee is useful in one way or another.

While royal jelly and honey are well-understood honeybee products most of us use regularly, beeswax is a lesser-known substance. However, its versatility rivals that of honey. In our humble opinion, it’s actually the more useful of the two!

So, what is beeswax used for? Below, we take a look at how you can incorporate beeswax into your medicinal cabinet, beauty routine, kitchen, and household.

What is Beeswax?

Beeswax is essentially the building block of the bee hive.

Honeybees from the Apis genus produce beeswax to construct their honeycomb hive.

In its most natural form, beeswax is white or translucent and only becomes golden when it is stained by pollen oils.

Beeswax is made up of more than 284 compounds, though its composition varies depending on where the bees live.

Honeybees are very orderly creatures. Each bee has its own job within the colony; in fact, the colony consists of nurses, cleaners, the queen, foragers, and workers.

Their homes are just as functional as they are — bee hives consist of small, hexagon cells that are expertly crafted to provide the maximum amount of storage using as little beeswax as possible.

Next time you pass a bee hive, consider how clever those tiny creatures are!

The worker bees in the hive are responsible for creating the beeswax. First, the worker bee heads out to source pollen.

They then pass this nectar on to their fellow worker bees, who consume it ad turn it into the wax.

How do they do this? They have glands lining the underside of their abdomen, and these glands secrete the wax in thin, scaly sheets.

Once the pollen has been converted into wax, the bees begin to mould the substance. It is passed along in a chain, and each bee chews the wax to make it soft and malleable.

When it reaches the perfect consistency, the bees begin to create honeycombs. The bees then fill the honeycombs with honey and seal them off with more wax to prevent moisture loss.

What is Beeswax Used For?

Now that we know how beeswax is made, let’s take a look at what it’s used for.

We humans actually use beeswax in all sorts of ways; we use it in our medicines, our cosmetics, our food products, and our household and cleaning products.

Is Beeswax a Healing Tool?

Yes, beeswax is used as a healing tool!

European and Asian countries have long used beeswax in their traditional medicines. It has been shown to have multiple therapeutic properties and can help soothe and facilitate healing.

The wondrous substance has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it useful to help treat a wide range of concerns.

Beeswax is mainly used to heal ailments on the exterior of the skin. It can help to

Heal bruises
Reduce inflammation
Treat burns
Protect against irritants
Prevent bacteria from entering the body through broken skin

Health Uses

Beeswax is used as the main ingredient in salves, creams, and ointments. It is best used on minor burns and scratches, as it promotes healing to prevent infections on wounded skin.

It can also be used to help soothe irritation from bug bites. You can mix up your own bug bite stick by combining beeswax and essential oils. Rub some on your bug bite to reduce itching and irritation. Here’s a recipe for a DIY beeswax bug bite balm.

Recent studies have shown that beeswax may help to reduce symptoms of rosacea. A study found that when combined with other natural ingredients such as essential oils and witch hazel, beeswax cleansers can reduce the appearance of redness and broken blood vessels caused by rosacea.

Heading into cold and flu season? A beeswax vapour rub is a must-have in your medicine kit. Simply rub some onto your chest to relieve congestion. Discover our DIY beeswax vapour rub recipe.

Beeswax balms are also useful in alleviating pain and discomfort in achy muscles and joints. Give this DIY beeswax sore muscle balm recipe a go!

Recently, researchers have also been looking into the antimicrobial properties of beeswax. Some studies have reported that beeswax can even reduce the effect of salmonella and staphylococcus.

Is Beeswax Good for Your Hair and Skin?

Yes, beeswax has many beneficial properties for your hair and skin health.

Beeswax is non-irritating and has softening and protective properties, making it a popular natural ingredient for all skin and hair types.

Beeswax benefits the skin in a number of ways, including

Hydrating
Conditioning
Calming and soothing
Exfoliating
Repairing damage
Promoting skin regeneration
Reducing irritation
Protecting against pollutants
Reducing signs of ageing

As for the hair, beeswax is

Nourishing
Conditioning
Softening

Beauty Uses

Beeswax is used in a number of cosmetic products thanks to its unique ability to lock in moisture. It can be used in lip balm, face masks, and body butter.

It can also be used to heal cracked skin. Its moisturising properties work to soothe dry, itchy skin and promote cell regeneration. You can make your own beeswax balm and apply it to cracked heels, elbows, and dry skin patches to hydrate the area. If you’ve used it on cracked heels, pop on some socks afterwards to retain as much moisture as possible.

Looking to incorporate beeswax into your haircare routine? It’s the perfect natural hair mask ingredient; it will infuse your strands with some hydration and nourishment. Simply rub some beeswax between your fingers and smooth it over the ends of your hair. It works best when applied to damp or wet hair.

Beeswax can also be used to tame flyaways. If you want to create a sleek, chic style minus the frizz, apply a small amount to the hair as you slick it back. This will create a smooth appearance without turning your hair greasy.

Beeswax is best suited to curly or textured hair, as it is quite thick and heavy. If you have very fine hair, use beeswax sparingly.

Make sure you’re focusing the wax on the ends of the hair, and only use very small amounts. Avoid using it every day, as this may cause a build-up on your strands.

This DIY Everything Beeswax Balm can be used for all of the above; apply it to dry skin, use it as a lip balm, or treat it as a hair-taming balm.

Can Humans Digest Beeswax?

Beeswax is edible and safe to consume, but it cannot be properly digested by the human stomach. It often passes through the body in the same form it entered — just like corn or tomato skins.

So, there isn’t much nutritional value in eating beeswax, but it can safely be used as a tool in cooking.

Food Uses

In many foods and beverages, white beeswax and yellow beeswax are used as stiffening agents. It is often used to cover fermented foods and cheeses, as well as fruits (yep, that waxy coating on your apple consists of beeswax!).

If you’re looking to whip up a treat at home, you can make canalés using beeswax! Canalés are French pastries that are deliciously crunchy on the outside and custardy on the inside. They’re typically coated in beeswax and butter before the batter is added and baked. We love this recipe. If you are making something at home, be sure to use 100% pure food-grade beeswax.

Beeswax can also be used to coat the grill to prevent food from sticking. Simply rub some beeswax onto the grill and slowly warm it up!

In the same way, you can apply beeswax to your baking pans with a cloth to prevent your baked goods from sticking.

One of the most common food-related uses of beeswax is using it as a substitute for plastic cling wrap. Beeswax wrap is washable, reusable, and compostable, and is usually made from a combination of beeswax, cotton, and jojoba oil or tree resin. You can find a recipe for DIY reusable beeswax wrap here.

Can Beeswax Be Used in Other Ways?

You can use beeswax beyond your kitchen and cosmetics and medicine cabinets!

In fact, beeswax serves several purposes in the home and can even be used to enhance some of your hobbies.

Household Uses

Beeswax is often used as a furniture polish to lubricate wood furnishings in the home. Add one part beeswax to three parts olive or coconut oil, and heat the mixture until melted. Allow it to harden, and then rub the bar into your wooden furniture, using a cloth. Then, grab another cloth to buff it up and admire that shine!

Similarly, beeswax can prevent bronze items from tarnishing. Combine 150 grams of beeswax and four cups of turpentine, and use the mixture to buff your bronzed items.

If your wooden chopping boards, spatulas, or bowls are looking a little worse for wear, simply use half a teaspoon of beeswax combined with a cup of mineral oil to restore them. Apply with a cloth and watch them come up, good as new.

A beeswax balm can be used to prevent tools from rusting. All you need to do is grab a beeswax bar, rub it onto the metal parts of your tools, and buff off the excess to keep them shining.

To prevent your canvas shoes from water damage, you can waterproof your shoes with beeswax. First, clean any dirt off the shoes, then rub a beeswax bar onto the canvas. Use a blow dryer to melt the beeswax and rub away excess. Your shoes are now waterproof!

Your beeswax bar can also be used to unstick those pesky zips — just rub a small piece of balm along the zip and it’ll run smoothly again.

Hobbies

If you’re an arts and crafts lover, why not use beeswax to create your own crayons? Mix equal parts beeswax and soap shavings, then melt the mixture. Pour the liquid into moulds and add some food colouring, stirring as you go. Allow the moulds to harden, and they’re good to go!

Beeswax is handy to have around if you play an instrument. You can coat the reeds of your woodwind instrument with beeswax to ensure a tight fit, or add beeswax onto your tambourine or drum surface to allow your fingers or drumsticks to roll off more easily.