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( Beeswax)
Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. Beeswax is produced by young worker bees between 12 and 17 days old in the form of thin scales secreted by glands on the ventral surface of the abdomen. Worker bees have eight wax-producing mirror glands on the inner sides of the sternites (the ventral shield or plate of each segment of the body) on abdominal segments 4 to 7. The size of these wax glands depends on the age of the worker and after daily flights begin these glands gradually atrophy. The new wax scales are initially glass-clear and colourless (see illustration), becoming opaque after mastication by the worker bee. The wax of honeycomb is nearly white, but becomes progressively more yellow or brown by incorporation of pollen oils and propolis. The wax scales are about 3&_160;millimetres (0.12&_160;in) across and 0.1&_160;millimetres (0.0039&_160;in) thick, and about 1100 are required to make a gram of wax.[1] The wax may further be clarified by heating in water and may then be used for candles or as a lubricant for drawers and windows or as a wood polish. As with petroleum waxes, it may be softened by dilution with vegetable oil to make it more workable at room temperature. Beeswax is a tough wax formed from a mixture of several compounds. The empirical formula for beeswax is C15H51COOC30H61[2]. Its main components are palmitate, palmitoleate, hydroxypalmitate[3] and oleate esters of long-chain (30-32 carbons) aliphatic alcohols, with the ratio of triacontanylpalmitate CH3(CH2)29O-CO-(CH2)14CH3 to cerotic acid[4] CH3(CH2)24COOH, the two principal components, being 61.
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Increased Interest in Natural Products by Terry Christensen
In the past several years there has been an increased interest in natural products, and natural skin care products are no exception. It's the simplest, most basic ingredients that have been the most effective in healing and maintaining healthy skin t...
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