Modelling Beeswax

The origins of the word wax come from the Anglo-Saxon word for honeycomb, so fragrant yellow beeswax could be considered the original ‘reference wax’, and all other waxes are so-called because of their physical similarity to the glandular produce from a honeybee.

Young worker bees secrete beeswax from near their abdominal glands and chew it, mixing it with saliva, pollen, honey and propolis until it darkens and becomes a pliable and waterproof construction material. They use this to build honeycomb structures to store and protect honey and raise young bees. It is extracted by spinning the whole honeycomb in a centrifuge to separate the honey and wax, and it is then used for candle-making, cheese-wrapping, lipstick-making, furniture-polishing, as a shiny food additive (E901), and as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ointment to treat burns and wounds. 

Waxes do not all have the same chemical composition: they typically contain long-chain hydrocarbons, but these could be of any length, and could contain a variety of different functional groups, so could actually be chemically quite different. As you can see from handling our selection, waxes might be solid or liquid, brittle or malleable. Some are sticky, some are slimy, but all are brought together by shared behaviours that include: malleability, low melting point and a resistance to being dissolved in water. 

Waxes are hydrophobic (resistant to being dissolved in water) and play a protective and antibacterial function as a result. In nature, this allows them to act as a protective coating: stopping water getting out, and stopping water and bacteria from getting in. This is as true in waxed lemons as it is in ducks: if you try to get either of them wet you will notice that water beads up and rolls off their surface, and as it does, it takes with it any lurking dirt, bacteria and mould spores. The protective and antimicrobial effects of beeswax were even understood by ancient Egyptians, who used beeswax in the mummification process (along with a bunch of other substances like pistachio resin and bitumen) to preserve corpses by removing liquid and supressing fungi, bacteria and odours. 

Because it is biocompatible, wax has been used in and on the body for a very long time. There is some evidence from Slovenia to suggest that beeswax was used as an early dental filling around 6500 years because it is both suitable for use on the body and receptive to fine detail. Wax’s similarity to human flesh has made it one of the best materials for mimicking human skin in theatrical prosthetics and waxwork models of famous people: our sample of Tussauds casting wax is a special blend of paraffin wax, beeswax and sometimes sumac (Japan) wax. 

Waxes are distinguished by their malleability, which is why they are such a great material for drawing and sculpting (see our scopas modelling wax and terracotta modelling wax). Waxes have a crystalline molecular structure which is a lot like a metal’s: under a microscope both waxes and metals are made up of lots of tiny crystals, called grains, which are tessellated together in a pattern that looks a bit like crazy paving. When you squish a piece of wax you are forcing these tiny grains to stretch, bend, and slide past one another. When these crystals are smaller and more irregularly arranged they can more easily move past each other, and the wax is more flexible and malleable. Beeswax, carnauba and petroleum waxes are all used for the wax crayons that are responsible for the daily scribblings of children all over the world, as well as the work of artist Cy Twombly.

They are also famed for their low melting point, although different waxes have a range of different melting points. This relates to the length of their hydrocarbon chains and how much energy is needed to break them down. The softest waxes, like  coconut wax, start to melt over 40°C, this beeswax melts at around 65°C, and some synthetic waxes need to be over 100°C to soften. Malleable and meltable beeswax gave us one our most ancient metalworking techniques, having been used since the Early Bronze Age (late 3rd millenium BC) for lost wax casting. Take a look at our bronze casting wax and luted crucible for more about lost wax casting.

As we explore in our Festival of Stuff candle-making activity, beeswax is also flammable, and as a result its most prominent use for centuries has been for making candles. Waxes are generally not flammable in their solid form, but when the wax melts and vaporises it burns, which is why you need a wick to heat the wax and then ‘wick’ it up so it can burn. Waxes are also suitable for candle making because they are great at taking on colour, as you can see from this rainbow of beeswax tablets, and scent, as you can smell from our heady damask and tuberose perfume ingredients produced by wax enfleurage.

Check out our blog post for a longer read about the weird and wonderful properties of waxes, including an earth wax that is mined from seams in the ground and an artificial eye wax that is used to make prosthetic glass eyes.