Our Fingerlakes Honey Company

Where Does Beeswax Come From?

Did you know beeswax is made from honey? It’s true. Bees collect nectar and pollen to make honey to feed the hive. As they eat honey, their bodies make wax. Chewing this wax with a little more honey, the bees build combs. When the time is just right, beekeepers open these “honey pantries” to collect the extra honey — and we collect combs to make pure beeswax candles and ornaments.

​

How Beeswax is Collected

We harvest beeswax at the same time that we collect our raw honey. First, we pull the beehive frames that are full of honey and capped with beeswax. Next, we scratch off or cut the wax that is covering the honeycomb, exposing the delicious raw honey. We place the frames in a centrifuge that extracts the honey along with bits of this beeswax. By collecting beeswax this way, our honey farm can only harvest less than one pound per hive each season!

​

The collected wax is melted and filtered to remove any impurities. What’s left is incredibly pure, natural beeswax. While there are numerous uses for beeswax, we’ve recently been making beeswax candles and ornaments! Beeswax is superior to other waxes for making candles as it burns longer and brighter. When burning, beeswax can produce negative ions that latch onto harmful household chemicals that are airborne. Once the negative ions produced by burning beeswax bond with the airborne toxins, they descend to floor level, essentially purifying the air! These harmful toxins come from a range of varying products including furniture protectant, aerosols, paint, formaldehyde, even non-beeswax candles produce harmful byproducts!