Beeswax, how food safe is it today?

I was in a store over thanksgiving weekend, and I commented that beeswax didn't cause an allergic reaction to people with bee sting allergies (I think this was a topic here a little while ago). A woman overheard me and told me that I was not correct - she was allergic to both honey and beeswax due to her bee sting allergy. Just something interesting to know.

"Denis Marier" wrote in news:K37Ab.5281$ snipped-for-privacy@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

I'd heard that beeswax was acceptable for bowls, chopping blocks and countertops that come in contact with food. Apparently it is antibacterial. Now I'm beginning to wonder if that quality isn't from an accidental additive?

Honey has been used for centuries to dress wounds because of its antibacterial action. That's why it's so puzzling to me that the ban should be for antibiotics. Off the top of my head, I'd have to say that it's not the antibiotics which would be worrisome, rather the bacteria that could survive 'em.

People's food allergies are mostly to proteins. Bee proteins would be (hmmmm) found in all things produced by them.

I was surprised by the woman's comments and did a little "Google" searching. From what I could find, her reaction may have been caused by bee pollen or "royal jelly" contained in the honey/bees' wax. It appears there have been a few cases where people have had severe reactions. Research is being done to determine the cause and the results are leaning towards the pollen and "royal jelly" contamination.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Of course, the pollen is a vegetable product, being the male flower's way of cruising the singles bars with the bees.

I have made a double check using Google. This to corroborate the situation. If chloramphenicol has been found in Chinese honey the wax is also carrying the same antibiotic.

Quote: The EU and Canada have banned Chinese honey in recent months because of concerns of high levels of the antibiotic chloramphenicol.

Andren said the antibiotic has been linked to aplastic anaemia, a serious disease with symptoms similar to some cancers. A spokesman for Truss said the Australia New Zealand Food Authority and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service were aware of the situation and were awaiting results of tests on the suspect honey. Unquote

Many countries are blending their production with Honey produced in China. There are Food controls on Honey. But who is controlling the wax?

Denis, You seem to have done a creditable job doing your own research, why not follow that up and do your own control, with "your" wax? That should put your mind at rest.

James Barley

Thanks for your comments. Chinese beeswax is not part of all finishes sold in north America. The situation is that we do not have a mean to identify the properties of Beeswax presently product sold . The existing labelings do not give enough details about the content of the Beeswax finish been offered to the consumers. Selling utensils or dishes destined to consume or handle food. This with the some knowledge that it is coated with the derivative of an imported product that has been banned because it has the potential to impair human health could be construed as premeditated offense. Ignorance of a Health bulletin or laws may not be recognized or tolerated as an excuse in a court of law.

I am confused here. Why not just get your wax from a local beekeeper and make your own finish? That is what I do.

Thanks for the tip Darrell. When several retired physicians asked me about the safety and origin of beeswax finish being used on today?s wooden bowls I was unable to provide an adequate answer. So I went on the Internet searching. They in turn went on elaborating the value and use of honey and opiate on the earlier battle fields by the surgeons.. I like beeswax a lot. The jar I bought comes from Vancouver. I am working on getting beeswax from a beekeeper in Moncton. If you know of someone any closer to me please let me know. At one time, a brother from the Holy Cross congregation at Villa Madonna in Renford uses to keep bees. I will give them a call. This way by making your beeswax finish you know the origin and what is in it.

Denis I know a couple of bee keepers here in Nova Scotia but they are farther from you than is Moncton. I use little bees wax as a finish but I do use it some as a paste wax. Try heating about one part pure bees wax to two parts vegetable oil and two parts mineral oil in a microwave until the wax melts and then stirring well. It cools into a nice paste wax.

Thanks for the beeswax finish recipe. Should I not be able to find some bee keepers around here. I do not mind stopping in Nova Scotia on my way back from Bridgewater Again thanks for the formula.

Denis Sprucewood, Rothesay N.B.

When you buy finishes that include Beeswax, or a block of beeswax from a commercial source you are at the 'mercy' of their supplier as to the actual source of the wax. Those of us who mix our own finishes have other choices.

As an ex-beekeeper I recommend buying your beeswax locally - buy honey that way too. Find your local beekeeper, all them I know, will sell you both honey and most also have some beeswax they can afford to let go (for a price). Not only can you tell the story of the piece of wood you're trying to sell, but you can tell about the finish. And you are helping to support your other "craftsmen". Yes Beekeeping is a sort of Craft, as well as an Art (Not everyone is suited to do it.)

mike

If you're not suited up to do it, you probably don't want to make the bees angry. :)

This has been an interesting thread. I never knew I might be eating honey from China. Bleah. No offense, Chinese people, but bleah.

You just made that $7 jar of honey from the local beekeeper sound a lot more affordable.

Would the wax inside those things have any finish value? I've heard some people say that the honeycomb in a honey jar is beeswax, and others have told me it's a hard candle type wax pressed into a comb shape and provided as a substrate for the bees to build on, or something like that.

I'd have to buy a lot of $7 jars of honey to get enough wax for any real finishing, but I'm thinking if I have to buy the stuff anyway, maybe I can use the wax after I suck the honey out of it.

I like honey, and I eat a lot of it. Bleah. Chinese honey. Bleah!! I'm heading out to the country store right after I finish this.

Has anyone considered what the actual risk of using the beeswax. The quantity applied to the bowl is small and you are consuming the finish. Is this being blown out of proportion?

As with many topics on this group, "yes"

Nah. If a therapeutic dose is "reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen" from mixed study results.

a therapeutic dose is 40mg/kg per day.http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/bugdrug/antibiotic_manual/chloro.htmThen even a poor lawyer can probably get some money from 1 ppb in honey ifyou sneeze....

Nor only more affordable, but supporting a local "craftsman" and loca agriculture.

When I kept bees a beekeeper could buy sheets of "foundiation" in two types, plastic and beeswax. I preferred beeswas, but the plastic was coated with beeswax. The foundiation was a thin sheet with an embossed hex-shaped pattern. These would go into frames into the hive. The bees would then build the comb on (bees like doing that) these foundiations then the bees would cap the nectar till it ripened into honey. The actual comb and the"cap" that seals the nectar into the comb while it is ripening is made naturally be the bee. When beekeepers extract (harvest) the honey they slice off the cap and using a small centrifuge, spin the honey out. This is was the small local beekeepers sell, sometimes locally or in bulk to big time operators.

I'm talking about beekeepers with a few hives, those with hundreds of hives may be more commercial and only sell to large processing plants.

Find the local apiary - where you see a few hives in a cornor if a field, and / or a road - side stand.

RIGHT!