It’s my Beeswax

It’s not exactly My Beeswax, but I am using what I have available to make a few very easy and inexpensive salves and ointments.

If you saw my recent post on our Chicken tractor you would be familiar with this book.  We used plans to make a chicken tractor and eventually I would love to make the Top bar beehive using the same book for inspiration.

My bee mentor uses Langstroth hives and tried hard to encourage me to use the same, but I’m not really interested in selling honey.  I really don’t think Jim and I would have use for so much.  I’d much prefer to have a larger supply of beeswax.  Using the Top bar hive requires that the bees build their own comb from scratch.  This takes the energy from honey making that the Langstroth bees don’t expend because of the pre-made cells in the frames they use.

Either way, beekeeping can be a costly hobby.  I’m going to try to save some money by making my own beehive (ahem, having Jim make beehive). I’ll also save by making my own salves, deodorants and lotions.

My goal is to harvest the wax for salves like the simple one I made in 15 minutes today.

Here’s how I did it:

Materials:

Beeswax
Coconut Oil
Essential oils

Instructions:

Put 1 tbsp coconut oil in small glass jar and 1/4 Cup of beeswax chips.  Melt in microwave until all the beeswax is melted.   Add the essential oils to suit your needs.

Here is what I used:

10 drops of Lavender- for sleeplessness
10 drops Geranium and 5 drops Bergamot and 5 drops lavender – insect repellent

~Eleanor

This is not intended as medical advice.  Although essential oils are routinely used without side effects, please be aware that there may some contraindications based on your own medical history.  Please do your due diligence before following these or any DIY recipes.