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Welcome to writing rural with Alley. I'm Alley, and this is episode number five, Beeswax. You can find this episode's notes and helpful links where you can learn more on my website. Alleyhart.com. That's Alleyhart.com. For the first week of this podcast, there will be a new episode out every day. After the first week, there will be a new episode out every Monday. Now onto the show. Beekeepers get two products from bees. The first is honey. The second is beeswax. Today we are focusing on beeswax. A simple definition of what part of the hive is the beeswax is the hexagon, which is the comb itself, and the caps that the bees place over them to store the honey until it's time to eat it. During the winter, beekeepers harvest this at the same time they harvest the honey. Today's beekeepers typically only use the caps to make beeswax. While historically both the comb, which is the hexagon shaped things and the caps were used. Beeswax needs to be rendered. This means that they are separating the honey from the wax. It also removes impurities such as dead bees, debris and more. There will be links in the episode journals to a how to if you want to learn more about rendering beeswax. They were historically shaped into bricks or discs. The disc shape was typically referred to as a cake. Today they are also sold in pellets. These pellets are roughly the size of bbs, or small pebbles. There are many uses for beeswax, which means if your character harvests it, they could not only use it, but sell the excess. This could be very profitable depending on how much there is to sell and what era you're writing. In modern times, it needs to be more on an industrial level in most countries to be very profitable, but it can and for some individuals does, make a nice supplemental income if done correctly. Historically it could be sold, but most just bartered and traded with it. However, there are larger scale industrial beekeeping in places like Egypt where they sold beeswax. A number of uses for beeswax is far more than I have the time to name. Here, I will name some of the most common and important ones. This includes, but is definitely not limited to; Waterproofing leather, rust prevention, candles, soap, hair care, lotion, sewing aids, sealing envelopes with wax, sealing can jars, lubricant for wood screws and nails, lip balm, dog paw care, crayons, grafting, to reduce the friction on bowstrings, furniture polish, waterproofing shoes, conditioning a wood cutting board, polished concrete counters, and a whole lot more. Fun fact beeswax has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Now, for everyone's favorite part, what could possibly go wrong? Well, let me tell you. This depends only on your imagination, and this is not even close to all the possible things that could go wrong for your characters. Likely, your character got the wax too close to the heat and it melted. Also likely your character could accidentally contaminate melted beeswax with anything that could be spilled into it dirt, grass, hair, flour. Also likely, your character could be using it to make any number of things and realize in the middle of making it, that they were doing it wrong or that they didn't have enough. Unlikely today, but historically and in postapocalyptic worlds, it would be unlikely that you could just walk down the road and get more. On the same note, your character could be waterproofing clothes and run out in the middle of the process, leaving parts of it susceptible to water. Also possible, if not properly stored, beeswax can attract mice, ants, or even cockroaches. They like to eat it. Unlikely; if your character uses it for rust prevention, they might miss spots and have tiny little rust spots all over whatever they're trying to save.

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naturally aged beeswax and beeswax placed in the freezer or in a too cold environment become brittle. Improbable, but technically still within the realm of possibilities. Beeswax heated up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or above becomes explosive. Being hit with a melted wax at a temperature like that will cause severe burns and will be hard to get off quickly or easily. Also improbable, but technically still in the realm of possibilities. If a large amount were to be swallowed, it could cause intestinal obstructions that, without proper care, could potentially lead to death. Thanks for listening to get this episode Show Notes. Or if you'd like to find links where you can learn more about this topic, check out my website. That's alleyhart.com alleyhart.com. Subscribe and follow for more episodes. A new episode comes out every Monday. Until then, happy wordsmithing.