Beeswax is a fascinating material with many practical uses in cosmetics, lubrication, preservation, and candle-making. You may have wondered, “Where does beeswax come from?” “How do the bees form it into comb?” “How do beekeepers get frames of beeswax comb? Let’s go to an entomology expert for a few facts. Ms. Rusty Burlew is a noted honeybee researcher and author, with a good website honeybeesuite.com. She gives us the wax lowdown: “Honeybees have four pairs of wax producing glands on the ventral (under) side of abdominal segments 4 through 7. The ability of worker bees to produce wax increases gradually from birth and peaks when the bees are 12 to 18 days old.
After that period, the workers are shifted to other duties and their ability to produce wax wanes.
“The segments where wax is produced are equipped with smooth surfaces called mirrors or plates. The clear wax flows in a thin layer over the plates where it hardens into little white disks that look like fish scales or ice flakes. If the disk remains in place, the bee may add another liquid layer over the first, creating a thicker disk.
