TRADE IN BEESWAX

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 July 1939, Page 2

TRADE IN BEESWAX

— -• • 1 > FROM NATIVE HUT TO GLOSSY FLOOR. The London trade in beeswax which is centred at the London and St Katharine Docks is the subject of an article in the June issue of “The P.L.A. Monthly.” “The two main sources of supply for beeswax are Africa and India. In the more densely populated areas of East Africa the collection and marketing of beeswax is usually a by-product of native honey-beer manufacture, but in other parts of the country it is an industry in itself. A bee's nest is robbed at night and wax and honey are separated either by squeezing in the hand or by pressure in a long woven grass bag. Preliminary heating of the comb to make the honey flow easily is customary, and the native has no objection to a honey rendered watery by this process. Except where wax is being prepared on a large scale, the comb is then well chewed by the family to complete the removal of the honey. “Good quality wax requiring no further treatment by the exporter is produced by melting the comb, from which the honey has been removed, in clean water and straining the mixture through a bag of native manufacture. The resultant wax and water is allowed to cool slowly, and impurities are scraped from the under-surface of the wax.

“Beeswax is used in the manufacture of toilet preparations, insulating compositions, floor polish and leather dressings.”