Uncontaminated wax from Africa

[beeno]

I have come across references where companies state that they import beeswax from Africa because they practice treatment free beekeeping on that continent. Inference being that they are too poor to afford the treatments for their colonies which are housed in topbar hives on natural comb in a pesticide free environment. The attached study tells a different story, but the beekeepers still say they don't treat. Perhaps people with experience of African beekeeping can through some light on this subject matter. Many thanks.
https://rdcu.be/cfcyT

 

[ericbeaumont]

National Bee Supplies sell cut comb foundation made from beeswax from the Adama region of the great Rift valley in Ethiopia. Assay confirmed zero pollutants and contaminants.

What is odd is that NBS heat the wax to 125C for an hour to 'sterilise' it, yet this source suggests beeswax loses its nature at 120C (250F) and although it will not boil as such it will decompose giving off smoke.

 

[beeno]

National Bee Supplies sell cut comb foundation made from beeswax from the Adama region of the great Rift valley in Ethiopia. Assay confirmed zero pollutants and contaminants.

What is odd is that NBS heat the wax to 125C for an hour to 'sterilise' it, yet this source suggests beeswax loses its nature at 120C (250F) and although it will not boil as such it will decompose giving off smoke.

I think that odd too. Used to be 90°C then 100°C. I have burnt wax at my first attempt, but I now don't go above 90°C and it's beautiful. Not about to go higher to prove a point at this stage!
Found another study based on contaminants in Ethiopian and Kenyan honey and it's the old chestnut, the contaminants are there but below the levels required by the EU Regulations, and some call that 0, apart from malathion an organophosphate insecticide. I assume, I am not scientific by any means, that if it is in the honey it will be in the wax.
Thanks for your input it was useful.
https://foodcontaminationjournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s40550-016-0036-4.pdf

 

[pargyle]

Here's my input ... if you have any doubt - don't buy it.

 

[Into the lions den]

I assume, I am not scientific by any means, that if it is in the honey it will be in the wax.

Actually it is quite common for things to be in either honey or wax and not in the other. Wax attracts 'contaminants' that are oil miscible. Honey attracts 'contaminants' that are water miscible.

Have seen wax analyses with over 30 compounds listed as present in measureable amounts.....some of them not legally present in the beehive. From a plethora of sources..even the UK. Medications, pesticides, fungicides, environmental contaminants. Wax...far more than honey...is a great collecting medium for what is going on out there.

If you look for first world contaminants in third world wax you will not find many. There is not a lot of looking for third world contaminants goes on so analysing African wax for European contaminants gives it an easy ride....but the tarry residues from burning or smoking out primitive hives as part of the harvesting process gives discernable contamination..which may or may not be harmful. A lot of African wax smells very smoky and can also be noticeably dark. Do the bees mind? Not a jot.


Having read the reply from pargyle I might need to clarify the above...the bees not minding bit. I meant they do not mind the smoky smell and discoloration. It was specific to that paragraph.

 

[pargyle]

If you look for first world contaminants in third world wax you will not find many. There is not a lot of looking for third world contaminants goes on so analysing African wax for European contaminants gives it an easy ride....but the tarry residues from burning or smoking out primitive hives as part of the harvesting process gives discernable contamination..which may or may not be harmful. A lot of African wax smells very smoky and can also be noticeably dark. Do the bees mind? Not a jot.

The bees may not be that concerned ... but this beekeper would be .... but, I don't have huge numbers of hives and a dependence on beekeeping for a living so I'm not being in the least but judgemental - before anyone suggests I am.

 

[beeno]

Actually it is quite common for things to be in either honey or wax and not in the other. Wax attracts 'contaminants' that are oil miscible. Honey attracts 'contaminants' that are water miscible.

Have seen wax analyses with over 30 compounds listed as present in measureable amounts.....some of them not legally present in the beehive. From a plethora of sources..even the UK. Medications, pesticides, fungicides, environmental contaminants. Wax...far more than honey...is a great collecting medium for what is going on out there.

If you look for first world contaminants in third world wax you will not find many. There is not a lot of looking for third world contaminants goes on so analysing African wax for European contaminants gives it an easy ride....but the tarry residues from burning or smoking out primitive hives as part of the harvesting process gives discernable contamination..which may or may not be harmful. A lot of African wax smells very smoky and can also be noticeably dark. Do the bees mind? Not a jot.

Thank you, very informative for me. Glad I don't buy foundation.

 

[Into the lions den]

Thank you, very informative for me. Glad I don't buy foundation.

Depends how much of a problem it is and the answer is generally..unless extreme..it is not a big issue. Even if you don't buy foundation..if you sent your wax for analysis...which is pretty costly...you would find it was picking up all sorts of things. the fact YOU put nothing into it does not mean there IS nothing in it.

If you are nervous about micro levels of contaminants don't drink water or breathe air.

 

[rolande]

I was listening to an interview with Kirk Webster the other week. For those who don't remember, he was one of the people that wrote quite strongly about the potential problems of contaminated wax a few years ago. In this more recent interview he was quite clear that it had never become the issue for the bees that he'd imagined.

 

[beeno]

Depends how much of a problem it is and the answer is generally..unless extreme..it is not a big issue. Even if you don't buy foundation..if you sent your wax for analysis...which is pretty costly...you would find it was picking up all sorts of things. the fact YOU put nothing into it does not mean there IS nothing in it.

If you are nervous about micro levels of contaminants don't drink water or breathe air.

I do know that there will be contaminants in my wax too just by the foraging activities of the bees and I do treat my bees. However, I just try to minimise the level of contaminants in the hive by not buying someone else's contaminants too. I am on the lookout for cleaner air - not all air is the same and I only drink champagne

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Actually it is quite common for things to be in either honey or wax and not in the other. Wax attracts 'contaminants' that are oil miscible. Honey attracts 'contaminants' that are water miscible.

As the paper said, it was most probably contaminants from things such as stock treatments chucked around. as varroa is just treated as a curiosity out there and hardly worth a mention and beekeeping is definitely a 'low intervention' system in most of Africa I can't see the contamination being from hive treatments, in fact after having had to trawl through catalogues from beekeeping suppliers in more than one African country, I have yet to see any miticides or any other treatment advertised there.

If you are nervous about micro levels of contaminants don't drink water

Hurrah for gin!

 

[beeno]

As the paper said, it was most probably contaminants from things such as stock treatments chucked around. as varroa is just treated as a curiosity out there and hardly worth a mention and beekeeping is definitely a 'low intervention' system in most of Africa I can't see the contamination being from hive treatments, in fact after having had to trawl through catalogues from beekeeping suppliers in more than one African country, I have yet to see any miticides or any other treatment advertised there.

Hurrah for gin!

I imagined malathion an organophosphate was used on agricultural crops? I used to buy Kenyan runner beans before I grew my own. However, it is a pesticide and was well over the limit in the honey?