Beeswax Alchemy: How to Make Your Own Soap, Candles, Balms, Creams, and Salves from the Hive

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

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.

"...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 "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)