Sourcing Beeswax

I've never used beeswax before and have no clue the ins and outs of buying beeswax. After perusing Amazon, I see a lot of reviews talk about people selling fake beeswax on there???!!! I was going to go the Amazon route so I could just buy a small amount (1 oz?) with free shipping but now I am way confused.

What quality beeswax do I need for skin products and how do I truly gauge this?

How much is fair for a lb of good beeswax?

Do you have a brand you like that I can purchase from online?

I did find two brands that are Texas based, am I just better off buying more expensive and more volume than I wanted from my local bees? (well, local-ish... Texas is huge)

Edit: I found something on Etsy that looks like a fair price, seems legit, and it has free shipping. I think I'll try it out.

Since I was wanting to make candles as well as salves/etc, I bought a 11 pound brick of beeswax from Jedwards. I've been pleased with it. It has a nice beeswax smell, and burns really nicely in tapers (the pillar candles I made didn't work out too well--probably because my wick wasn't big enough).

I'd really wanted a lot of unbleached beeswax, and even with the cost of shipping, this seemed to be the best deal. I think if you're not planning on making candles, then the smaller amount on etsy is a great price and option! It's also a lot easier to cut than my GIANT brick. Though, my 7 year old has a ton of fun chiseling away at it, so it's isn't a pain in our family to break it into pieces to melt. It's actually an advantage, because he seems to always want to break things. And now he has a useful reason to break something!

Do you have a beekeeper's association near you? I would always buy my wax directly from a beekeeper.

I did sell small quantities over an online platform but there are very envious people who will flag your ads for things like wax and tomato seeds and force you to set up a commercial account instead of a private selling account.
In any case, if you have some local sales platforms I would look there.

And for candles you might have to filter the wax once more (through a very fine tissue) because a wick will clog with even the finest particles (but the same wax works for cosmetics).

I am fortunate in having several friends that are bee keepers and they give me their wax that i render myself.

The simplest method that I've found is to melt the cappings with water in an old pot that is used exclusively for rendering wax.

It must be over a very low heat so that the wax doesn't overheat. When it has completely melted, leave it to cool overnight and the wax will be in a solid disc on the top.

The impurities will be at the bottom and can be scraped off with a serated knife. Keep the scrapings to melt down for firelighters.

Repeat the process until there are no longer any impurities (slum gum) on the bottom of your wax.

I used to filter the melted wax through a muslin cloth but found this method easier.

Once the wax is clean enough, i melt it again without any water and pour it into mini silicon muffin molds which hold 25g wax when filled to the top.

For making a salve, i find four parts infused oil to one part wax the consistency that I like.

I'm a beekeeper and render my own wax. A few tips if you go this route.

1) Solar melters are the bomb for cleaning up dirty old dark wax. A sloping tray lets the wax gently flow out of the old comb and leaves all the solids behind. I have tried doing this first melt with water and hated it. You and up with a dark soggy mess with less clean finished product. Also, solar melters can slightly lighten the colour of the wax, which can be a bonus for skin creams.

2) Once I have the wax out of the solar melter, it can be refined further as suggested above - melt it over hot water. Let it sit and cool SLOWLY and WITHOUT TOUCHING IT - and solids will fall out of the wax and into the water, or get caught in the bottom layer of wax that can be cleaned off. Avoid over heating the wax, as it can chemically alter it, making it darker.

There are no benefits, as far as I can tell, of using clean/light coloured wax for skin creams beyond customer preference. If you are making a product to sell you want to get hold of top grade wax, which is rendered from honey cappings rather than old brood combs.

As a beekeeper I have the luxury of extract honey in a way that produces super clean, light-colored beeswax as well. I use the crush-and-strain method (instead of the more widely used spinning honey extractor.
1. Scrape the comb from the honey frames.
2. Let the honey drip.
3. Rinse the wax with water.
4. Dry the wax.
5. Melt the wax in the solar wax melter.
6. Melt the wax and pour it in wax mold.

The result is attached. I've also attached a picture of the hand salve we make out of this super fresh and clean beeswax. You can check both of them out in our store as well: https://honeybythebay.com.