Honeybee_ Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - C. Marina Marchese [52]
When the beeswax, oil, and honey are melted and mixed well, test the texture of a sample by letting a small spoonful cool. If there is too much beeswax, the sample will be hard. Too much oil, and it will be mushy. Add more ingredients accordingly. When your sample is firm but spreadable, remove the rest of the mixture from the flame. The last touch is to add the essential oil and mix well. Using a small stainless steel or plastic spoon, pour the mixture into the storage containers. Work quickly and pour before the mixture cools down and hardens. Wipe away any drips before covering each container.
Once I feel I’ve perfected a recipe for a personal-care product, I offer samples to my friends and family. At first, many of them did not really understand the love that went into creating each product, or the real benefits of using pure beeswax over other waxes. It was a few years before my natural products gained a following. I found most of my first loyal customers at farmers’ markets, places where people come to purchase their food and other products firsthand from the producers. There I could let shoppers test my honey and beeswax skin-care products, and I could get their reactions firsthand. After customers tried my products, they returned to report how wonderful and pure the products felt on their skin. I was spreading the good word about honeybees and educating folks about using pure products. The more customers learned about honeybees and my natural creations, the more they came back to purchase my products. Before I knew it, new customers were stopping by my market table each week and specifically asking for one of my beeswax salves. The general public began to understand what I have long believed: what goes on your skin is as important as what you put into your body. Every day I spoke with customers who had developed allergies and health and skin conditions related to their diet and the environment. Every year more people seem to be seeking out honey and bee products to help them alleviate these ailments. Through my research in China, the UK, and Italy, I was able to develop the purest skin-care products available in this country, using vegetable-based oils and butters combined with beeswax and honey.
The Buzz on Beeswax
1. Beeswax is solid at room temperature and melts at around 145 to 147°F, the highest melting point of all waxes. Beeswax candles burn longer than other types of candles.
2. You know you have pure beeswax when a whitish, powdery deposit appears on the surface of your wax after it is stored for some time. This powder is called bloom, and it can be removed simply by rubbing the wax with a soft cloth or gently applying heat with a hair dryer.
3. The expression “It’s none of your beeswax” is a common phrase, often said to young children, that means “It’s none of your business.” It may have stemmed from a time when only the upper class could read and write. Before envelopes were used for written correspondence, letters were folded and sealed with a drop of beeswax and then hand stamped with a ring depicting the family’s seal. This sealing method insured privacy while the letter was in transit.
Between taking care of my hive and mixing up my beeswax salves, I was devoting more and more time to my honeybees and paying less attention to my day job. Also, the nature of the giftware-importing business I worked for changed rapidly; the company eventually decided to close down its wholesale and design departments and focus on retail. Luckily, this change gave me an opportunity to take the plunge into beekeeping and making and marketing my products full-time. Why not? I had been developing and marketing products successfully for other companies, and it was time for me to take on the role of the queen bee.
CHAPTER 11
Apitherapy: How the Honeybee Heals
Before completely leaving my job with the giftware company, I made one last trip to China.