Producción de Cera de Abejas y su Aprovechamiento -Apicultura- TvAgro por Juan Gonzalo Angel

Twitter @juangangel Beeswax - A Useful and Valuable Product Beeswax is the material bees use to build their nests. It is produced by young honeybees, which secrete it as a liquid through their wax glands. Upon contact with air, the wax hardens and forms tiny wax flakes on the underside of the bee. About a million of these flakes represent one kilogram of wax. Bees use it to build the hexagonal alveoli of their honeycombs, already rigidly and efficiently structured. They use these alveoli to store honey and pollen; the queen lays her eggs in them, and new bees are raised inside. Wax is produced by all species of honeybees, although the waxes produced by different bee species have slightly different chemical and physical properties. Beeswax Quality Beeswax derives its value from its purity and color. Light-colored beeswax is more valuable than dark-colored beeswax because the latter, due to its color, may have been contaminated or overheated. The finest beeswax is extracted from the melting of opercula, that is, from the layers of wax with which bees cover honey when it is ripe. This new wax is pure and white; the presence of pollen gives it a yellow color. Income generated by bees For many reasons, beeswax is an excellent product for rural communities, both for domestic consumption and for export: processing beeswax is easy. To prepare it to the quality required for export, only heat and filtration methods are required to ensure its purity. It can be presented in the form of blocks using containers of any size as molds. The blocks can be broken into small pieces so that buyers can appreciate their purity and cleanliness; transporting and storing the wax is not complicated because special containers are not required. The wax is usually exported as small blocks wrapped in burlap sacks; Beeswax does not deteriorate over time. Independent beekeepers or cooperatives can store it until sufficient quantities are collected for sale. As with honey, beeswax can be considered an appropriate export product for developing countries, as beekeeping can be implemented without the need to use land essential for local food production. In areas where most honey production is consumed locally and where beeswax is not used, honeycombs are generally destroyed, even though they may have market value. Therefore, it is necessary to educate beekeepers on beeswax collection methods and encourage them to sell it along with the honey. Uses of Beeswax Beeswax has many traditional uses. In some Asian and African countries, it is used to create batik fabrics and to make small metal ornaments using the molten wax method. It is widely used as a waterproofing agent for wood and leather, and for reinforcing threads. It is used in village industries, such as candle factories, and as an ingredient for ointments, medicines, soaps, and shoe polishes. It enjoys excellent demand in the world market. More than 300 industries use it. The cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries are the main consumers, representing 70% of the world market, and use first-class wax that cannot be overheated. Its price ranges between US$4 and US$8 per kilogram. Other major consumers are the beekeeping industries in developed countries, which require it for the production of cosmetics and candles. It is also used in the manufacture of electronic components and compact discs, in modeling and in the industrial and art markets, in shoe polish, furniture and floor grafting waxes, and in lubricant factories. http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5110s/... Juan Gonzalo Angel www.tvagro.tv