The uses of honey and wax in Ancient Egypt

Honey was the only sweetener the ancient Egyptians had. It was added to wine, various kinds of bread and cakes. Medicines and salves often contained honey. The practice was to apply honey to open wounds—a reasonable treatment considering its antibacterial and fungicidal qualities. Mead is also made of honey. Being universally appreciated jars of the stuff made excellent presents when visiting people abroad. Temples kept hives because Gods had a desire for sweet things too. Honey was found on the table and in the kitchen of the Pharaos and from them it went down the social strata. Even lowly servants dipped the finger in the honey jar. Demands ran so high honey sometimes needed to be imported. Wax was used for sealing things from the seal on documents to the inside of amphora. Wax was also used for plugging up orifices of mummies, as glue and in hair styling, in model making and painting. It was a universally used material, but not as candles. The picture is of the hair and hair extensions on the head of the mummy of Nefertari

Honey and wax harvesting in Ancient Egypt

In contrast to many other customs in Ancient Egypt the harvesting of honey and wax are a bit of a mystery. There is a picture on the wall of a temple about how the hive was evacuated. Smoke was blown into the back of the hive and the bees escaped through the entrance in the front. The rest is conjecture, but in Egypt traditions rarely change and it is pretty safe to suppose that neither has beekeeping. To harvest the honey the combs are gathered in a cow skin. Next the combs are crushed by treading on the skin. Through a hole the honey now flows into a container. What is left in the skin is washed out with a bit of water. Finally the honey passes through a sieve made of blades of grass. What’s left in the skin is the wax. The wax is heated to melting point in a water bath to prevent it from catching fire. Impurities floating on the surface of the liquid wax can be scooped up. Afterwards it is strained and put into a bag press. It has been estimated that for every kilo of honey somewhat more than sixty grams of wax can be won.

What are bees?

It is fun having bees in the garden and being properly impressed by them, but what are they? I went searching for knowledge. Bees or in our case apis mellifera mellifera, are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants. They are important pollinators and produce honey and beeswax. Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica and where ever there are flowering plants. Bees feed on nectar for energy and pollen for nutrients. Most pollen is used for food for larvae. With their long tongue they suck the nectar from the flowers and pollen is gathered via the hind leg. Bees have two pairs of wings and a stinging hook for defense. The best-known bee species is the European honey bee. Ours is a sub species called the native Irish honey bee. Beekeeping is also known as apiculture.

Moving house

Timothy the beekeeper was satisfied with the work the nucleus of bees in the Styrofoam hive had done the past weeks. They had industriously been filling the combs. Now it was time to proceed with the good works in their new abode. When you move house you take all the good stuff with you and transplant it in a new environment: the same with the bees. The frames well cleaned of excess bees wax go in one by one in the same order. And of course the position of the queen bee will be checked.

Of hexagonal honeycombs and larvae

‘Lets have a look inside the hives,’ Timothy the beekeeper said and took the lid off the starter hives. First there was a shelf with feeder bags. He took that off too. Inside the beehives hung a number of frames. Most screens were filled with honeycombs. Some were empty and others were half filled. ‘The bees make honeycombs with beeswax that they secreted from a gland. The hexagonal combs are little rooms for the larvae to grow in. Some screens have already pre-fixed combs in them.’ Timothy explained. ‘We help them along by putting in screens that are already filled with pre cast combs. The larvae are fed on honey.’