In the ‘good old days’ beeswax probably was pure and healthy, however these days with all the agro chemicals in use everywhere (neonicotinoid insecticides especially, herbicides and fungicides) beeswax is no longer the pure substance it should be. Add to this the fact that there are bacterial diseases and mites that parasitize bees such that beekeepers have to use a myriad of antibiotics and miticides to keep their bees alive and all these chemicals get into the wax. This is especially so in the brood combs which are not replaced very often so the chemicals build up over time, less so in honey combs which can be used for many years during the summer only, and minimally in the cappings. The cappings are the layer of wax that the bees cover each honey cell when full of honey, rather like a lid on a jar of honey. The bees do this at the last minute and the beekeeper removes the honey frames as soon as possible. Therefore the cappings are exposed to any chemicals for the minimal amount of time. The beekeeper has to slice off the top of the cells in order to spin the honey out and he ends up with a lot of these cappings mixed with honey. The honey is allowed to drip out and then the wax can be melted and filtered.

Here endeth the lesson.

David

It certainly can impart a honey-ish taste to your cheeses so if you don’t want that possible added taste, then you may choose not to try beeswax.

After a very short time, the beeswax cracked and pulled away from the cheese allowing mold to develop. [In some areas the beeswax didn’t pull away, making cleaning the cheeses a very time consuming aspect of re-waxing the cheeses when I gave up on the beeswax and re-waxed them with cheese wax]. It took me at least two full 12 hour days to clean the cheeses from beeswax and any mold that had developed, and re-wax them with cheese wax.

I have also bandaged a few cheeses. I generally liked the flavor and texture of my bandaged cheeses, but they were more work than just using cheese wax, and they were a little musty for my taste. My husband’s friends raved about them. I guess my palate just isn’t sophisticated enough!

I made a 3 to 4 pound cheese (or two) a week for almost two years, and I have plenty of cheese stored up! As we work through the stockpile of cheeses, I’m interested to see how well the waxed cheeses (mostly cheddar) come out. Eventually, I may be able to try some cheeses that are younger and have just been aged under correct conditions from the start. Learning is a process . . .