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Bee Wax

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 10 months ago
Beeswax

 

  1. Description and Rationale
  2. Biology                                                                      a. Common Names and Synonyms                     b. Classification                                                        c. Morphology and Physical Description              d. Getting Food

    e. Reproduction

    f. Environmental Factors

    g. Origin and Distribution

    h. Importance to People

    i. Survivability and Endangered Status

     3.  Potential Solutions

          a. Possibility 1  Cosmetics

          b. Possibility 2  Candle

          c. Possibility 3   Decoration

     4.  Bibliography

Description and Rationale

 

 For thousands of years, people depended on insects called, honeybees, and their by-product called honey. For more than 20 centuries, we humans have used it for honey as an important food ingredient. Honey became a part of our daily menu. However, honeybees do not only give us honey, but also several other very useful things. One of them is called beeswax. Beeswax is not as familiar to many Philippine people, because it is just a material to make other products. Nowadays, beeswax has been introduced to many Filipinos for its products, such as hair wax, medicine, decorations and other stuff. It is also used in many other industries in the Philippine.

What are beeswax’s impact on the local ecology and human? Does it benefit for the local community with its products? Does beeswax have negative effects on the human body and environment? Does it harm the ecology or benefit it?

Recently, the issue of illegal logging has been getting worse and worse. Many politicians and scientists warn that illegal logging would hurt the poor families near the destroyed tropical rain forest, because the destroyed forest cannot support for seasonal crop cultivation such as coconut and sugar. The beekeeping seems to be the best way of conserving destroyed forest and supporting the households who depend on the natural resources. If the beeswax would help increase the income of the poor families, then what would be the best way to  communicate the finding to the people?

The initial purpose of this project will be to research the biology and ecology of the beeswax product, primarily hair wax. Through a search of the hair wax on the Internet, and a conversation with people who use wax and gel. These initial findings will help guide the experimental phase, where key variables in hair wax usefulness will be further explored.

It is hoped that this research will help to improve the Philippines user through more informed understanding of a human made biological product.

 

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Biology

 

Common Names and Synonyms

 

Apis mellifera is also called the honeybee. It is called honeybee, since it will attach itself to a flower, gather and modify honey from the flower and store honey in honeycomb. Other synonyms include abeille (French); Honigbiene (German); ape (Italian); pukyutan (Philippines).

 

Classification

 

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Suborder: Aculeata

Superfamily Apoidea

Family: Apidae

Genus: mellifera

There are many types of honeybee. Approximately 20,000 known species of bees, there are only seven presently-recognized species with a total of 44 subspecies Honeybee has called in different names depend on their habitats and physical features:

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Morphology and Physical Description

 

 

There are three different types of honeybees, depending on their jobs: worker, male drone and queen. Regular body length of a worker is 9.5–15.8 mm (0.37–0.62 in), the male drone is 15.8 mm (0.62 in), and the queen is 19.5 mm (0.75 in) long. As honeybee is a hymenoptera type insect, it’s has three distinctive body parts: head, abdomen and thorax.

A regular bee is golden brown, black or yellow. The abdomen has pale orange/yellow rings, and fine hairs lightly cover it, and a sting attached in the end of the abdomen. 

On the head, there are five eyes: two large compound eyes, and three small ocelli on the center of its head. Interestingly, bee has a jaw and lips to support the tongue and proboscis for pollination. Two antennas is also attached on the center of head to detect the objects.

Between the head and abdomen, there is a thorax, which support the wings and legs and also is covered by fine hair. Six black legs (two forelegs, two middle legs and two hindlegs) and four translucent wings (two forewings, two hindwings) attach to the side thorax. Also specialized hairs made pollen baskets are located on the outer surface of the tibiae (or fourth division of a insect's leg) of the hind legs.

Additionally, bee has a series of glands on their abdomen. They use the wax to form the walls and caps of the comb.

 

 

Getting Food

 

Honeybees are herbivores, so they get the food from the plants, especially from flowers. Adults and larvae eat the mixture of nectar (or sugar-rich liquid produced by the flowers of plants) and a type of pollen, which is called beebread (or fine powder like material consisting of pollen grains). The queen’s larvae eat the royal jelly (or a nutritious secretion of the pharyngeal glands). Honeybees get these foods by collecting from pollination of the flower.

 

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Reproduction

 

Apis mellifera reproduce by mating between the queen and male drone. Queen lays egg 1000 ~3000 eggs every day. Fertilized eggs develop into females, and unfertilized eggs develop into males. These eggs develop to larval. Whether a larval honeybee is destined to be a female becomes a worker, or queen depends on the sort of food it is fed.

 

Environmental Factors

 

Honeybees gather food from flowers, so they work mostly on the warm temperature, when the flower blooms. They work most at the spring and summer seasons. In Philippines situation, bees are actively work in whole year, except the rainy season.  

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Origin and Distribution

 

Honeybees as a group originally appeared from Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), as all but one of the extant species are native to that region, including the most primitive living species (Apis florea and A. andreniformis). They used to live the tropical rain forest of Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines then moved into part of Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

 

Importance to People

 

Worldwide honeybees had been introduced as well as their honey productions. Honeybee produces many useful things for man. The first, they produce honey, which is one of the most used food ingredient in the world. Honey is the complex substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants and trees are gathered, modified and stored in the honeycomb by honeybees. It has been used for thousands years by human.

They also produce the royal jelly. People collect and sell royal jelly as a dietary supplement, claiming various health benefits and nutrients such as B-complex vitamins, including a high concentration of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), acetylcholine, minerals, enzymes, hormones, eighteen amino acids, antibacterial and antibiotic components, and vitamins A, C, D and E.

The third one is the propolis. Propolis is marketed by health food stores as a traditional medicine, and for its claimed beneficial effect on human health. It shows powerful local antibiotic and antifungal properties. Also it is generally efficient in treating skin burns. Claims have been made for its use in treating allergy; it may stimulate the immune system.

The firth importance is the beeswax. Beeswax is used commercially to make fine candles, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and hair wax.

 

 

Survivability and Endangered Status

 

The current conservation statue of honeybee is that they are not threatened. In the Philippines situations, honeybee is native species in Philippines, and lives in the whole part of Philippines, so there is no danger of extinction. It may be competing with more marketable honeybee productions.  

 

 

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Potential Solutions

 

What are the things made from beeswax? Beeswax is used in many different areas of commercial industry such as cosmetics, confectionery, pharmaceuticals and candles. It is also used commercially to make brighteners, color pencils and waterproof agents. In the Philippines, further research and field studies about the ecology of beeswax related industries are needed due to low yield of honey production. Native honeybees, Apis cerana, store little surplus honey (about 1- 10 kilos honey per colony). With so little honey production, it seems hard to support the poor families, especially, people who live on the destroyed tropical rain forest. There seem to be several beeswax productions that may be able to benefit the poor people and to increase their income. Below are three possible beeswax products with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for each.

 

 

Possibility 1 Cosmetic

 

For thousands of years, cosmetics have been used for women’s make up. As world civilization develops, people’s interests in health and beauty also increase. Many people attempt to make beauty products more naturally and more efficiently. One way of doing that is using beeswax. Many various cosmetics such as hair wax, body lotion, moisture cream, perfumes and lip balms are already produce based on beeswax and other chemical mixtures.

 

Advantages:

 

1. Beeswax is natural matter that protects the skin from other artificial chemicals. Not all chemicals are bad, but when the chemicals stored in the skin, they may caused serious skin diseases. Moreover the beeswax body lotions or moisture cream may have a good effect on human’s skins.

 

2. The cosmetics can be used by themselves, especially the poor beekeeping families. One ordinary small cosmetic (minimum of 20~30 pesos) would be a huge amount of money to the poor families. 

 

 

Disadvantages:

 

1. To produce commercial cosmetics would require more bee colonies to make beeswax due to low yield of cosmetic beeswax. Too many colonies in one specific place may harm the ecosystem and make it unbalance.

 

2. The amount of beeswax needed for a commercially viable cosmetic would require a cost analysis. Since most beekeeping families are poor, they are unable to produce quality commercial cosmetics, which require high qualities of other chemicals. They also required having a cosmetic factory, machines and high technology to make those cosmetics that customers want. They also have markets to sell their productions. There may be additional fees for factory workers.

 

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Possibility 2 Candle

 

For hundreds of years, beeswax has been used for making the high quality of candles. Beeswax candles were used in the Catholic Church and by nobles and royals on important occasions or celebrations. Nowadays the paraffin candle has replaced them. Beeswax candles are best known for their bright flame and the flame’s colors. Depending on process, which it was made the candle can have upto 20 bright different colors of flames. It is convenient to use, because the drops of melted wax do not fall down the side.

 

Advantages:

 

1. Asides from selling the candles to other customers, beeswax candles would be useful for themselves. There are many poor families and beekeepers who live without electricity. The candles would be good used for brightening the darkness of the night or saving electricity to save money.

 

2. Since beeswax is natural organic matter, the beeswax candle does not give off any noxious gas, unlike some poor quality paraffin candles, which the poor family may use. Beeswax may prevent the bad effect on the health of the beekeeping families. It is also good to use for deodorization the houses from the poor environment.

 

3. Since a Christian worldview emphasizes better stewardship of God given resources, the ability to utilize the beeswax in various ways such as candles, medicines, decorations, cosmetics and etc, rather than just throw it out after making honey. Through these products thank God, glorify His name and honor God for His gift, creative, and innovation.

 

Disadvantage:

 

1. Beeswax candles are made by hand. So the product yield would be low and it takes a long time to make a candle. So there may not be many candles to sell to increase their general income.

 

2. To make candle requires a skilled craftsman to make high quality candles. As you can see in the picture of the process of making the candle, a craftsman needs to be high trained to complete the process correctly. The problem is that beekeepers may not have the skill to be candle makers. 

 

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Possibility 3 Decoration

 

From an interview with Elsa Gonzales, a Philippines public school art teacher, she mentioned that beeswax is a great material for arts and decoration. According to her, beeswax is easily transformed to make other features. Pouring melted wax in specific carved mold and then crafted. It can be used to make wax doll, wax manikin, artificial decoration vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Furthermore, it is also found that beeswax has been used in decoration for confectionery.

 

Advantages:

 

1. As in other nations with famous wax museums, beekeeping families can make wax figures, wax dolls, or manikins of Philippines nature, famous people, Philippine’s traditional custom and other mementos for business purposes. It can be of greatly interest to foreign tourists or other native Filipinos for their own decorations. It could be great opportunity to increase the income (professional wax Manikin [man size] costs more than $60.000 = 3.000.000pesos) of people. Selling these products may also give the Philippines good national image and improve its national pride.

 

2. Beeswax can be used in interior decoration. Beeswax can be molded in various forms, such as fruits, animals and flowers to make artificial decoration. With not too much cost, people can decorate the house elegantly. 

 

3. Beeswax is also used for food care decorations. Since beeswax is edible organic matter, it could be added in food or decoration for food with out introducing harmful materials to the food. 

 

Disadvantages:

 

1. In order to produce decorations the craftsman is required to have adequate skill to make the decoration beautiful and make an impact or the customer. It would not be common for beekeepers to have those skills. Wax manikins require lots of wax and other stuff to make one. They also need professional artists to color the figures.

 

2. Because the product is made of wax, they will have a high possibility of melting in hot weather, like Philippines. 

 

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Bibliography

 

Antonio D. Baconawa

http://www.beecongress.org/

 

Answers Corporation

http://www.answers.com/honeybee

 

Bees for Development Store

http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/78

 

The British Beekeepers' Association 2003 - 2007

http://www.bbka.org.uk/faq.php

 

David Cushman – Honeybees Morphometry

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/morphometry.html

 

Elsa Gonzales – Philippine Public School Art Teacher, Telephone Interview.

May 3. 2007

 

F G Smith Published in Bees for Development Journal 78, March 2006

http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/info/info/beeswax/wax-extraction-informatio.shtml

 

Kim Jong-Bo

http://www.honeybees.wo.to

 

Rachel

http://www.rachelssupply.com/bwax.htm

 

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