Beeswax

[Scott Flint]

I see a lot of lube recipes which include beeswax. We checked a few local stores and can only find it in tubs for use on hair. Where do you find beeswax for use in lubes? If the hair stuff says "100% pure" would this work?

 

[buford87]

Cactus, you should be able to find pure Beeswax in a hobby store such as Hobby Lobby, Joann's or sometimes in the craft section at Walmart. I can't advise on hair wax I have never seen any so it is an unknown to me....watch yer top knot..................

 

[ohio ramrod]

If it is pure beeswax that is what you want. I don't have to look for any since I have a life time supply. Years ago when I was working in the tool room on the graveyard shift a coworker always had a "little something" he needed made and he always said thank you with a quart of honey and a half dozen plugs of beeswax. The honey has long since been eaten but the beeswax is still going strong.

 

[Scott Flint]

Thanks. My wife said she couldn't find it at Walmart but its a BIG store. I'll check myself and there's a Hobby Lobby right down the road.

"Remember the Alamo!"

 

[necchi]

look in the candle making supplies

 

[Little Wattsy]

I found it online fairly cheap (after some looking) bought a couple of lbs (which is ALOT)melted it and used a muffin tin to pour "ingots" of it...ready to use.

 

[Walks with fire]

Trapping supply houses used to carry it. It's used for waxing traps. I have a big block of it that I bought 30 years ago; it's pure beeswax.

I use it for a lot of things. My latest use for it is on a laminated stock that was slippery to handle; rub a little of that beeswax on there and it lasts all day. Not slippery anymore.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't know where you live, but there are beekeepers virtually everywhere in this country. Every state has an Agriculture Extension office, associated with its University system, in virtually every county. They will know where the nearest beekeeper is to you.

Call them.

Beeswax is a by product of the honey they produce and sell. If your town or city has a farmer's market during the Spring, Summer and Fall, as many cities now do, you will usually find someone there selling honey. If they don't have some beeswax with them, they will be happy to fill your order the next weekend. Otherwise, you can drive out to their farms, and pick up all the beeswax you want.

Unless someone has a HUGE bee operation, the amount of beeswax they produce each year does not bring them much money from the wholesalers who buy it, then purify it some, and cast it into those EXPENSIVE bricks, or rounds you find in stores. You may have to strain the heated beeswax through a cotton filter( a clean, Old, T-shirt works wonders)- but you can get as much beeswax as you want from your local people, for very little money.

I was shocked when I saw what a couple of stores here were charging for a couple of oz. of beeswax. I have a brick that weighs more than 2 lbs. in my garage that was given to me years ago by my father, so I am not personally in the market for more beeswax. A phone call to your local Farm Bureau office will also probably give you the names and phone numbers of local beekeepers.

If you have forgotten your basic science courses- I had teachers who could put a whole class to sleep faster than any drugs I have known since-- bees are necessary for the pollination of most all crops and flowering trees. Beekeepers actually are paid money by some orchards, or farms, to set up bee hives on those properties so that pollination can take place and the plantings can bear "fruit". Very few plants and trees are self-pollinating.

And remember that honey is nature's antiseptic- it will not spoil, and can be used to kill bacteria, and to protect wounds from infection. It tastes good, too. So, buy some of the beekeeper's honey, while you are there. :wink: :thumbsup:

 

[LaBonte]

Paul - One reason for the increased price of bee products is the world wide honey bee die off... http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126954.600-honeybees-under-attack-on-all-fronts.html

Plus beeswax has become an increasingly important ingredient in lots of consumer products especially "natural" products (lip balms, lip sticks, lotion bars, massage bars, cuticle balm, deodorant, cold process soap, scented sachets, and candles are just some of the natural products using beeswax these days). Even the small time bee keepers in my part of the country (SW) and a couple other areas I know of no longer give it away or sell it cheap - there is a good commercial commodities market for beeswax so it has become worthwhile to sell it off rather than just give it away even for most small raw materials suppliers.

It's simply the old business model of supply and demand: Less availabilty and/or higher demand = higher price.
That along with the higher costs for cleaning it, packaging it, and shipping it all make the smaller amounts such as found in hobby shops quite expensive.

If you can't find it locally, look for it on line, even ebay has sellers and as noted above candle and soap making suppliers are good sources. Buying it in larger quantities will save you money per pound.
FWIW - I use about 20-35 pounds a year and get it from the only remaining local source, and the price has tripled in the last 10 years.
The world has changed and getting things for free just doesn't happen as much as it once did......

 

[shmrck1]

Cactus,
Might try the forums 'search feature' as this subject has been discussed many times here.
Short of that google 'beekeepers'. I have always bought mine on line @ less than $5 per#.Make sure wherever you get it that you are getting pure
beeswax. I think there are three different grades.
You want pure,or be prepared for extra work to make it that way.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[BrownBear]

Another source, if you've got one local, is an art supply store. I'm not sure what it's used for, but on my recent trip I picked up a couple of pounds at $8 a pound, and it looks really pure. Not as cheap as online sources, but then, I didn't pay shipping to Alaska, so it was cheaper.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't need Pure Beeswax for anything. I am not making candles. I am either melting it to mix with oil, or its burning up as flux in casting lead.

If I am melting it to mix with oil to make lubes, Its no problem to pour the melted beeswax through a t-shirt, or cheesecloth, or a woman's nylon stocking that are thrown away almost daily because of a run somewhere. That gets the wings, legs, and other debris out of the wax. If for some reason I need it cleaner than that, I can pour it in a mason jar with some water in it, and let it cool down in the refrigerator. All the debris left will sink to the bottom with the water, or may be still stuck to the bottom of the wax that floats on top of the water, and can be easily scraped off.

That Little Bit of Extra Work to clean the Wax is What is costing you so much money.

We have " Hobby orchards" around here- nothing that can be commerecially successful, because the farms are way too small, and there simply are not enough trees. But they still need bees. And those bees still make beeswax.

The Commercial buyers of beeswax want to buy large quantities of raw beeswax, 100 lb lots I am told. The small Beekeepers don't produce that much in a year. If you are asking to buy purified beeswax,well, YEAH, its going to cost a lot more. But I am talking about the raw product- honey drippings, wings, legs, antennae, and all manner of wind blow dirt and debris with it. I still pay the beekeepers what they might be paid if they produced enough beeswax to sell to the commercial buyers, because I appreciate their work. But, that cost is substantially below any retail price I have seen for the Purified beeswax sold in stores. And I meet some very nice people doing it my way! :thumbsup:

 

[Walks with fire]

Beeswax: http://www.localharvest.org/pure-beeswax-bars-C11384

 

[mikemeteor]

here's another vote for finding a local beekeeper.
find some store that sells local honey, and you'll usually see a name & address on the bottle.
give 'em a call - can't hurt to ask.
I went that route in my barber shop - turned out the husband of the lady that cuts my hair makes honey on the side - had 5 lbs of raw beeswax the next week - free.
Had to melt and screen it, but for lubes, 5-lbs will last ya a loooong time. :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

mix 50-50 with lanolin (pharmacy) or unsalted lard when hot, does great for a good overball seal/lube (won't blow off) for your revolver or while warm dip warm conicals in to grease the grooves.

 

[Frank/Pa]

Michael's craft store carries pure bees wax.

 

[sniper68]

That's where I get mine. They are always running a 40% off coupon and sometimes a 50%. :thumbsup:

 

[fredrader]

I bought a pound today and it was $14.95 at Hobby Lobby :cursing: I bought it anyway :redface:
I mixed 100grams of it with 100grams of olive oil and poured it over some .50 370g Maxi Balls and it seemed to work well..I havent shot any yet but I will soon..

 

[shmrck1]

Cactus Mocs,
Might want to check Stumpy's Moose Snot
recipe located in the "Articles-Charts-Links"
forum. Great stuff.

 

[shmrck1]

Cactus Mocs,
Might want to check Stumpy's Moose Snot
recipe located in the "Articles-Charts-Links"
forum. Great stuff. Also as to getting beeswax,try www.stakich.com Family owned bussines out of Michigan..
snake-eyes :hmm: