Apparently worker bees develop special wax-producing glands on their abdomens. The bees consume honey which causes the glands to convert the sugar into wax which is extruded through small pores. It takes 8 pounds of honey to produce a pound of wax! The wax appears as small flakes on the bees' abdomen. The flakes of wax are removed by worker bees from their neighbor's abdomen and then chewed until it reaches the right consistency to be applied to the honeycomb.
Why would I take the time to look this up? Well....
Let me introduce you to my dad. He loves to use beeswax.
Here he's putting beeswax on the nails which he uses to hang our trim. Dave and I are so grateful that he has the skills to hang all our trim (or at least instruct Dave on the process). We are also grateful that he is here hanging the trim.
But what this photo doesn't show you is the pile of beeswax shavings on the stairs. I have beeswax everywhere! I'm constantly scraping it off of my floors. It's actually quite comical. I have to admit that of all the warnings we received about building a home, beeswax was never one of them.
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