Honey and beeswax
on Tina's Journal (China), 07/May/2009 06:49, 34 days ago
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A few weeks ago Lesley and I were given two bucketfuls of wild honey. They were leaving gifts from Tian Ba school where we had done a follow-up visit. In each bucket there was not only the honey but also parts of the honeycomb which contains the beeswax. I had been scraping my honey out as I needed it, usually for my morning porridge. Yesterday however, Ali filtered out all the honey and then I helped him extract the beeswax. Basically, our procedure was to squeeze as much of the honey out of the honeycombs, extracting grubs and bee larvae in the process, until it forms a small hard ball, which is then heated over a boiling pan of water to form a liquid. It was then filtered through a cloth into a bowl where the wax comes through and the gunk stays on top. The wax was reheated and then poured into cupcake cups. From my bucket we got two and half cupcakes of beeswax, plus three jars of honey. Not sure what I'll do with the beeswax yet, probably just keep it as a momentum. Anyway Ali, thanks for sharing your expertise.
