If you have already been using beeswax for some time either for crafting or cosmetic purposes, you should already be aware that there are two types of different colors that you can choose from. It is either in the form of “white” or “yellow”.
The main difference between the white and yellow beeswax pellets is actually their filtration process. Yellow beeswax have undergone heating procedure and then filtered to get rid the debris. While for the white beeswax, it undergoes pressure-filtration which gives that white like ivory color. There is actually more explanation and let’s discuss them in detail below.
Yellow Colored Beeswax
The most common type of beeswax color that you can easily find is “yellow”. This is actually the pure and natural tone of a honeycomb. In fact, the more golden the color, it means that the wax is purer and of higher quality. Those that have darker colors are the ones that are deemed as lower quality of waxes.
Yellow is really not a fixed color of beeswax. It can be creamy golden, orangey and dark brownish tint. This has something to do with the flowers where the bees are harvesting or foraging the materials they needed for their hive. So from the flowers comes the environment if it’s clean or polluted. In short, cleanliness of the surrounding environment has an important role that affects the color of the honeycomb.
If it happens that you got a beeswax that has a dark brownish tint color, this means that the wax may already be old or it has been taken out from a diseased hive. A diseased hive is a result of an unclean environment.
Beeswax with yellow to golden color are of good purity and of high quality. These are the type of wax that you should prefer to use.
Aside from the natural conditions that affects the color of the beeswax, the processing methods do also have an effect. You have to know that the honeycomb accumulates impurities in which the beekeepers who harvest them really need to filter them out. One of the most common processing method involve is by the use of heat where the beeswax are melted. Exposing the wax to a high temperature is often a result of a dark colored wax.
White Colored Beeswax
There is really nothing natural about white colored beeswax. They are the same type of wax as the yellow version discussed above. The explanation about the white color is that, the wax has been completely refined to the extent that the yellow tint got removed.
You may be surprised to know that beeswax may come in many variant colors which all depends according to their uses. White colored waxes are more commonly used in cosmetic products while the yellow ones are for crafting purposes such as candle making. But if you want to go pure natural, then you should only choose the yellow or golden colored beeswax.
The Beeswax Pellets
Commercial beeswax comes in several different forms where the pellet type is just one among them. This type of wax are pretty much useful as an added ingredient for cosmetic products because it can be easily melted down. It is actually used as a base ingredient for creams, salves, balms, and lotions. You can make the mixture much thicker by adding more beeswax.
Moreover, what’s really important is your intended purpose for the beeswax. If it is something on the cosmetic side where it is going to be applied for the human body, then you should choose the pure and high quality of beeswax. But for crafting purposes, you can use those that are of lower quality which are a lot cheaper in price.