The Keeper
Beeswax is used in candles as well as in health-care products.
© Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
Wax
When they reach a certain age, bees naturally produce wax flakes in glands on the underside of the abdomen. They use the wax to build cells in which they raise their broods and store honey. Beekeepers can collect the wax.
Beeswax is used in many ways: in candles that burn more cleanly than others, in furniture polish and in cosmetics. It was traditionally used-and is still used today-in ear candling therapy, in encaustic art and in decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky.
