🐝 How Do Honeybees Make Beeswax?
In the quiet hum of a thriving hive, something extraordinary unfolds: the creation of beeswax. This golden substance is more than just a building material, it’s the foundation of the colony’s nursery, pantry, and rhythm of life.
✨ The Makers: Young Worker Bees
Between 8 and 20 days old, young worker bees become wax artisans. Hidden beneath their abdomens lie special glands that secrete tiny flakes of wax. But this process is no small feat, it takes around 8 kg of honey to produce just 1 kg of beeswax.
🔥 The Right Conditions
To shape wax, bees must generate warmth. They cluster together, raising the hive’s temperature to a precise 33–36 °C, the sweet spot where wax becomes pliable and brood can thrive.
🧱 The Craft: Chewing, Shaping, Building
Once secreted, wax flakes are chewed and softened with enzymes from the bees’ saliva. Then, in a mesmerizing act of teamwork called festooning, bees link legs to form living chains, scaffolding from which they sculpt the hive’s iconic hexagonal cells.
These wax cells serve two sacred purposes:
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Nurseries for the next generation
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Pantries for honey, pollen, and bee bread
🌿 Why Beeswax Matters
Beeswax is strong yet light, insulating yet breathable. It regulates hive temperature, protects developing brood, and preserves the colony’s precious stores. For humans, it’s a gift, used in candles, balms, and rituals that echo the hive’s quiet magic.
From nectar to wax, every step is a story of transformation. At Mount Richon Honey, we honour this process in every candle and bar, handmade with reverence for the bees who build with light.