beewax
On the 13th day of her life, the worker bee develops a wax gland in her abdomen, from which she can "sweat out" (squeeze out) small pieces of wax. The bee kneads the wax with saliva and forms it into honeycombs.
In order to produce these wax pieces for 1kg finished beeswax, the bees need about 4kg of honey and 1kg of pollen.
A bee colony can produce about 0.5 to 1.5kg of wax per year.
At the beginning, the wax is still very light - almost white.
It gets its typical yellow color from the nectar and pollen and it can consist of up to 300 substances.
Especially alcohol, fatty acids and hydrocarbons are included - depending on location and bee species.
