Publisher Description

Modern beekeepers - take notice! Here we have the answer to one of the most common questions related to beekeeping: what do I do with all of this beeswax? In fact, the possibilities are seemingly endless! As beeswax has multiple holistic and decorative uses, projects can vary from beauty and health products to household items. Beeswax Alchemy is your first step towards using excess beeswax to make beautiful, useful gifts for friends, family, and even yourself. It offers a basic introduction to the art of extracting and purifying beeswax, as well as countless ideas for what to make with it. These include skin care creams, candles, and other home products like beeswax ornaments and wax fabric. So, get ready to suit up and collect some beeswax. There's so much that you can do with it - and now you know how!This is the book I've been waiting thirty years for. It has absolutely everything beeswax--candles (and bless you Petra for the info on wicks), balms (to make you pretty), creams (to heal both body and soul), soaps (so much on soap!), and many, many home products to make and use every day! Excellent instructions. Bountiful information. Beautifully done. - Kim Flottum, beekeeper; author of The Backyard Beekeeper, Better Beekeeping, The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook; and editor of Bee Culture magazine

Author Biography

Petra Ahnert is the creative force behind Beehive Alchemy (beehivealchemy.com), a growing artisan soap, body care, and home goods business. After a serendipitous meeting with a beekeeper at the library in 2002, Petra soon had a couple hives of her own and extra honey to sell. Of course, with the honey, comes beeswax, too so she sought out ways to make good use of the wax she had on hand. Since that time, Petra has first looked to her own life and products she uses to replace them with items she could make herself with the honey and beeswax she had on hand. Eventually, those products made their way into the product line-up for Beehive Alchemy.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Beeswax Alchemy. 1 Preface. 6 Introduction to Beeswax. 7 Brief history of Beeswax. 9 How beeswax is used today. 10 The Wax. 12 Where to get it and what it will look like. 12 Beekeepers Wax. 12 Candle Wax. 13 White Wax. 13 Brood Wax. 14 Insider tips. 14 Recipe Usage Guide Small amounts of beeswax. 14 Use the Freezer. 15 Protect Surfaces. 15 Cleaning up utensils. 15 Candle making. 15 Rolled Candles. 16 Rolled Taper Candles. 16 Rolled Pillar Candles. 17 Molded Candles. 18 Votive candles. 18 Molded Pillar Candles. 19 Hand Dipped Candles. 21 Hand dipped Taper Candles. 21 Hand dipped Birthday Candles. 23 Balms and Glosses. 24 Lip balm (In tubes). 24 Basic Lip Balm.. 24 Lip Balm with butters. 25 Lip Gloss. 26 Solid Lotion Bar. 26 Solid Lotion Bars. 27 Massage Bar. 27 Cuticle Balm.. 28 Heel Balm.. 29 Chest Rub. 29 Non-Petroleum Jelly. 30 Salves, Creams and Scrubs. 30 Salve Master Recipe. 31 Oil Herbal Infusion. 31 All-purpose salve. 32 Cracked skin salve. 32 Burn salve. 33 Itch soother. 33 Rosebud salve. 34 Woodworkers Salve. 34 Icy Joint & Muscle Balm.. 35 Emulsifying sugar scrub. 35 Beeswax Cream.. 36Solid natural Perfumes. 38 Solid perfume base balm recipe. 38 Solid Perfume master recipe. 39 Perfume essential oil blends. 39Soaps. 41 Starter Recipe (no beeswax or honey). 43 Honey and Beeswax soap (Cold process recipe). 45 Honey, Oats, and Beeswax soap (Hot process recipe). 46 Home Products. 47Beeswax Ornaments. 48 Beeswax dipped leaves. 48 Beeswax Pinecone Firestarters. 49 Beeswax Luminaries. 50 Cutting board conditioner. 51 Solid wood Polish. 51 Wood conditioner cream.. 51 Beeswax Polish. 51 Waxed fabric. 52 Waterproof sneakers. 52 Waxed Cotton Sandwich Wraps. 53 Beading and sewing. 54 Thread conditioner. 54 Batik. 55 Batik Napkins. 56 Batik Dish towels. 57 Encaustic. 59 Encaustic medium.. 59 Master batch. 60 Encaustic paints. 60 Painting with Encaustics. 61 Encaustic collage. 62 Recipe Usage Guide. 63 Using Percentages. 63 Ingredient Guide. 64 Butters. 64 Oils. 64 Miscellaneous. 68 Fatty Acid Glossary. 69 Herbs. 70 Essential Oils. 71

Review

"Beeswax is a wonderful, malleable and beneficial product that has a wide array of possible uses. This attractive book has a lot to offer for the intermediate do-it-yourselfer. In her debut book, businesswoman Ahnert provides an excellent introduction and solid technique instruction to make candles, lotions, and soaps with beeswax. VERDICT The true strength of this book is its instructions for making homemade body products. While similar in coverage to Leeann Coleman and Jayne Barnes's Honey Crafting, Ahnert's book provides better body products and more detailed technical instruction. Strongly recommended." - Library Journal "This book basically lets you become your own Burts Bees, but better, with clear instructions on how to make candles, soaps, salves and creams out of beeswax and much, much more! Beeswax candles help clean the air, beeswax salves have anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-viral benefits. For people who have allergy problems, beeswax is a "go to" product. Once I started looking into the benefits of beeswax products, it made me realize all the man-made chemicals in those same products bought at a store." - Jeannie Boutelle (The Local Beet blog) ..".a fabulous book with instructions and excellent photos on virtually any product one might wish to make from beeswax. It is so well written I never lost interest and was not tempted to skip around or to hurry to the end. The photos in the book are outstanding and make it even more professional and informative." - Suzanne Finley, Saponifier Magazine

Long Description

This is a reference book for all things beeswax. It offers a basic introduction to extracting and purifying beeswax, as well as many items that can be made with it. Modern beekeepers - take notice! Here we have the answer to one of the most common questions related to beekeeping: what do I do with all of this beeswax? In fact, the possibilities are seemingly endless! As beeswax has multiple holistic and decorative uses, projects can vary from beauty and health products to household items. Beeswax Alchemy is your first step towards using excess beeswax to make beautiful, useful gifts for friends, family, and even yourself. It offers a basic introduction to the art of extracting and purifying beeswax, as well as countless ideas for what to make with it. These include skin care creams, candles, and other home products like beeswax ornaments and wax fabric. So, get ready to suit up and collect some beeswax. There's so much that you can do with it - and now you know how!This is the book I've been waiting thirty years for. It has absolutely everything beeswax--candles (and bless you Petra for the info on wicks), balms (to make you pretty), creams (to heal both body and soul), soaps (so much on soap!), and many, many home products to make and use every day! Excellent instructions. Bountiful information. Beautifully done. - Kim Flottum, beekeeper; author of The Backyard Beekeeper , Better Beekeeping , The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook ; and editor of Bee Culture magazine

Review Quote

"This book basically lets you become your own Burts Bees, but better, with clear instructions on how to make candles, soaps, salves and creams out of beeswax and much, much more! Beeswax candles help clean the air, beeswax salves have anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-viral benefits. For people who have allergy problems, beeswax is a "go to" product. Once I started looking into the benefits of beeswax products, it made me realize all the man-made chemicals in those same products bought at a store." - Jeannie Boutelle (The Local Beet blog)

Description for Sales People

* Offers a basic introduction to extracting and purifying beeswax * Shows you how to make things from beeswax like soap, candles, salves, etc * Beeswax has multiple holistic and decorative uses

Description for Bookstore

Beeswax Alchemy is a beginner's guide to all things beeswax! It offers a basic introduction to the extracting and purifying process, as well as countless ideas as to what you can make with beeswax. These range from beauty and health products to household related items and decorations. The recent popularity of commercial beeswax products suggests that many are attracted to beeswax for its positive properties. As the art of beekeeping only increases, these people will be looking for ways to utilize their beeswax in beneficial ways. Now they know how!

Details