Beeswax that doesn't smell too hot.

[Consuela]

So I probably have about 30lbs of beeswax to render down and strain some bee parts out of so I started that today.

Well one batch smells strongly smoky, not like honey.
Almost burnt smoke.

I wonder if the wax was burned when the beekeeper was extracting it? I'm not sure what to do with it but I'm fairly certain I can't use it for anything cosmetic wise.

So perhaps I'll have to keep it for candles. Cuz I doubt it would taste good in lip balms.

 

[hmlove1218]

Beeswax smells nothing like honey to me. It has its own, distinct smell, but it's hard to describe. Especially unfiltered beeswax because of all the contaminants in it. Maybe that's what you're smelling? It seems to fade and smell sweeter after filtering

 

[Consuela]

So these are the first 3 batches I did. First filtering. And I agree, the smoky smell has faded with the filtering. Hubby agrees too.

First two batches are from the same bee keeper, third is from a different one. The third definitely smells sweeter to me.

 

[reinbeau]

The darker wax is most likely from the brood chamber, it definitely will have a different scent from the cappings wax, which is newer and has only had honey behind it. I save my darker wax for candles and use the cappings wax for cosmetics/soap.

 

[DeeAnna]

Ditto what Ann said.

The beekeeper might have used an unusual amount of smoke when working with a particular hive. Sometimes I get a whiff of smoke when I harvest my honey frames, but it doesn't linger long. I can see if a beek really smoked 'em good (maybe a onery colony?), the odor might be stronger and cling to the comb longer. Just a guess....

 

[reinbeau]

Yea, you really shouldn't use smoke at all when you're pulling honey, it can get into the honey and make it smell - like smoke! We either use Fischer Bee Quick or just a brush.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm a hobby beekeeper with just a few colonies, and I keep them in them thar new-fangled top bar hives. With this type of hive, harvesting honey and working the bees are often mixed together, rather than separate activities like for Lang hives. I don't usually use much smoke, but when I do need a touch, I usually waft it above the upper surface of the hive, not so much into the hive. If I happen to smell a whiff of smoke on a honey bar, it's gone by the time I get the harvested combs into the house. If the smell did linger, I'd rethink what I'm doing, because I really really don't like smoky honey either!