Beeswax Lip Balm

[BeeSquared]

I found a recipe that I'm extremely excited to try out! If anyone has used this recipe or if anyone DOES use it, I'd be very interested in hearing how it worked out for you.

1 part beeswax by dry weight (for example, 1 oz of beeswax by weight)
4 parts food grade oil by liquid volume (for example, 4 oz of oil by volume)
A few drops of peppermint oil

1. In the top of a double boiler, melt the beeswax and oil over medium heat. Stir continuously with a wire whisk until wax has completely melted.

2. Remove from the heat and add a few drops of peppermint oil. Continue stirring as the mixture cools and thickens.

3. Before it completely cools and sets, pour the warm mixture into small containers.

4. Let the balm cool completely before placing the lids on the containers.

This recipe was taken directly word for word from Beekeeping For Dummies by Howland Blackiston. (See his website at bee-commerce.com)

[GaSteve]

That sounds like it might work. You may need a little more peppermint depending on how strong it is and how strong you like it. A little Vitamin E oil (like from a capsule) might be a good addition to help keep the oil from going rancid if it sits on a shelf for a while.

[weebee]

Consider using something easy to pour from. I made a batch of lipbalm in a pyrex measuring cup. Make a small batch and test it first to make sure the consistency and amount of peppermint is to your liking. It is a very basic recipe and should work out fine. I put in a lot of other stuff including cocoa butter, castor oil, jojoba oil, rosemary extract, wheat germ oil and lanolin. I've seen recipes of 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 solid oil like cocoa butter, and 1/3 liquid oil like olive oil. I'm still trying to get the consistency right. My recipe is still too hard and waxy. I'm going to add sweet almond oil to the mix as well in my third attempt. If you end up with a reject batch, think of other uses for it such as a body balm or foot balm. Also, someone told me not to use EVOO because the smell is too olivey. Good luck.

[luvin honey]

Beesquared--Have you tried your recipe yet? It sounds wonderful!

weebee--Have you revamped your recipe to get it to a nice consistency? I would be very interested in it if you are willing to share :)

I have topbar hives, so I will be doing all crush and strain, getting a lot of bees wax. Does anybody having any tips on cleaning and rendering it into pure beeswax? Thanks so much!

luvin honey

[Demo Spec]

put it out in the sun on a screen, and have a pan underneath, the bees will come and lap up the honey residue, the wax will melt into the pan, and the trash will be kept by the screen

[luvin honey]

Thanks--Good idea! One more question: I will be doing crush and strain since I have topbar hives. Any ideas on cleaning out all the gook that's left behind? Or, is that what you're saying the bees will clean up?

I did the easy lip balm recipe above--1 part bee's wax, 4 parts canola oil and about 20 drops of wintergreen essential oil. I stuck it in a glass measuring cup and nuked it for 1 min in the microwave. I stirred, dumped into containers, and 2 minutes later have lovely lip balm. Thanks so much!! I can't wait to get more wax to experiment with other flavors :)

luvin honey

[Demo Spec]

Thanks--Good idea! One more question: I will be doing crush and strain since I have topbar hives. Any ideas on cleaning out all the gook that's left behind? Or, is that what you're saying the bees will clean up?

I did the easy lip balm recipe above--1 part bee's wax, 4 parts canola oil and about 20 drops of wintergreen essential oil. I stuck it in a glass measuring cup and nuked it for 1 min in the microwave. I stirred, dumped into containers, and 2 minutes later have lovely lip balm. Thanks so much!! I can't wait to get more wax to experiment with other flavors :)

luvin honey

im srry, i dont understand. Whats gook?:lpf: :ot:

anyway, the gook as you call it, which i think you mean the honey thats left on the wax, do you mean inside the hive on the frames or on the pile of wax, if its the latter, the bees will pick that off so fast you'll think the bees were out of honey!

[luvin honey]

What?!? Isn't "gook" in the Webster's dictionary? :D

When I crushed and strained a few days ago, there is a hard mass of crushed comb. I can imagine the bees cleaning the outer surface, but how can they get to the stuff that is basically smashed inside the mass of wax?

Can I rinse and rinse with warm water?

I realize most folks uncap and then extract, leaving intact comb for the bees to clean out.

Thanks again--luvin honey

[Demo Spec]

didnt think about that. what you can do is, if you got a big enough pan that is, you take your big hunk o wax and make a not so big hunk o wax, make it flat and spread it out on the screen, that way all the honey will be eaten by the bees and will go straight back into your hive

[Jeff McGuire]

I've been making lip balm for a couple years and have a couple tips that I have gotten from others. Put a metal teaspoon in the freezer to test the balm with, dip it in the hot mixture and it sets up quickly to give you an idea of the texture, also here is a general guide I used but tweeked to suit my personal preference
An easy guide for creating your own lip balm recipes is this

20% Beeswax
25% solid at room temperature oil (Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Lanolin,
15% brittle at room temperature oil (Regular Cocoa Butter, Palm Kernel Oil, etc.)
40% liquid oil at room temperature (Sweet Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, .)
Almond oil worked nicely but found many had allergies so I switched to Olive recently

I also buy my supplies from SKS bottle the lip balm trays are great and save a lot of time.

Hope this helps

[Demo Spec]

Hey Jeff, you got a link?

[luvin honey]

JM--Is the beeswax solid or liquid? How do you come up with your 20%? Thanks!

[weebee]

My lipbalm recipe is similar to Jeff's.

I cut back a little on the lanolin because the smell was a overpowering for me.

I put wheat germ oil in for a preservative, although Vitamin E capsules will do.

I used castor oil because I thought it would add more sheen, but it didn't. I'm going to replace the castor oil with sweet almond oil.

I made a lotion bar that was 3 beeswax, 2 cocoa butter, 3 almond oil. It is a nice product, but very shiny, I think it is coming from the almond oil.

Another tip is to keep stirring while you are pouring to keep it mixed well.

I pour into lip balm tubes and that is very challenging.

rusticessentuals.com has good prices on lip balm packaging.

Making your own lip balm is so rewarding. I can't believe how long one .15 oz tube lasts. I'm hoping to run out soon so that I can make another batch.

Some people put propolis in their recipe. I would try that if I had some.

[luvin honey]

I know what you mean about wanting it to run out! I just made 1 batch, which was about 1/2 cup, and I'm already wishing it would get used up faster so I could try mixing in a different essential oil next time :)

Thanks for the mention of the supplier above. I will check them out.

[Jeff McGuire]

sorry for just getting back to the questions I was away for a while. The wax can be liquid or solid for percentages. Also if you want to make it easy convert all percentages to grams ( ie 20g beeswax, 40g oil) its all just a guide so experiment with what you like.

Demo Spec what did you want a link too?

[Demo Spec]

the link to your supplier, i assumed that you shopped around for a better price, and that these were the best of the sites you looked at, i cant find it with a search engine

[luvin honey]

Well, I ordered lip gloss containers and tubes. I've made this with peppermint, wintergreen, rosemary, orange blossom and grapefruit. This is getting out of hand! I've made about 35 containers!

Do you guys sell this stuff? I'm using bee's wax, canola oil and organic essential oils. My tubes cost about $0.50, the balm containers more like $1. Any suggestions on pricing these for sale?

I'm doing a lot of blackberry picking these days. Between their thorns and those of the multiflora rose, my hands get pretty beat up. This recipe has been wonderful for soothing and healing all the scratches and gouges.

[luvin honey]

the link to your supplier, i assumed that you shopped around for a better price, and that these were the best of the sites you looked at, i cant find it with a search engine
I found it under rusticescentuals. Be really careful on the spelling :) It is www.rusticescentuals.com

I was really happy with their prices and shipping (next day!) but paid almost as much in shipping as product, and I chose the slowest, cheapest shipping option.

[Demo Spec]

I found it under rusticescentuals. Be really careful on the spelling :) It is www.rusticescentuals.com

I was really happy with their prices and shipping (next day!) but paid almost as much in shipping as product, and I chose the slowest, cheapest shipping option.

so their only shipping option is next day/ id rather buy from someone else thank you very much!

[Jeff McGuire]

Demo spec my lib balm tube supplier is SKS bottle 2000 tubes for $220 http://www.sks-bottle.com/

[beecron]

"I pour into lip balm tubes and that is very challenging."


I have used soda cans with the tops cut off to mix up the batches in. Obviously you have to be very careful with the sharp edges, but you can pinch the can easily into a pouring spout for pouring it into those little containers.

[beekeeper_sd]

Probably the best way to clean your wax would be to melt it in a pan of water, then either dip the wax off the top while still melted or wait until the wax solidifies then just dump it out of the pan. The wax will generally float to the top of the pan and the junk will sink to the bottom.

One thing I noticed in one of the previous posts was about melting the beeswax in the microwave. I would NEVER melt beeswax in a microwave. It is extremely flammable!

The best thing I have found to fill lip balms tubes is plastic syringes (without the needle) that you can get from any veterinarian clinic. They work really good. To clean them I use a baby bottle brush.

[HVH]

My hat is off to anyone with the patients to fill balm tubes up one at a time. I think others have mentioned the lip balm trays that hold 50 tubes at a time and make pouring much easier. The tubes are pressed into place from the bottom of the tray which allows you to fill the tray from the top and then screed. I make enough balm for 600 tubes (20% overage), split the batch into several aliquots to allow for separate flavors, and then pour in batches of 50.
It might be worth mentioning that the different oils/fats have different properties as some have mentioned before. Some have better shelf lives and resist oxidation, some dry skin while others are moisturizing. Some oils penetrate the skin whiles others sit on the surface.
As far as cleaning wax I like to pour crude wax through the same nylon mesh (120) that I use to stain honey.

[zigkid]

i get my supplies from this site http://www.thesage.com/catalog/index.html Tammy

[beekeeper_sd]

My hat is off to anyone with the patients to fill balm tubes up one at a time. I think others have mentioned the lip balm trays that hold 50 tubes at a time and make pouring much easier. The tubes are pressed into place from the bottom of the tray which allows you to fill the tray from the top and then screed. I make enough balm for 600 tubes (20% overage), split the batch into several aliquots to allow for separate flavors, and then pour in batches of 50.

I tried using the lip balm trays but every time I use them, my lip balm tubes somehow shrink just enough that the caps no longer fit. Don't know if I'm pouring my lip balm too hot or what but then, when I tried to pour at a lower temp, ended with one H of a mess. So now I use the syringe and have very few problems.

[HVH]

I tried using the lip balm trays but every time I use them, my lip balm tubes somehow shrink just enough that the caps no longer fit. Don't know if I'm pouring my lip balm too hot or what but then, when I tried to pour at a lower temp, ended with one H of a mess. So now I use the syringe and have very few problems.
Some of the labels available will seal the lid on but customers might not be very happy when their top flies off.

[beekeeper_sd]

That's what I thought. My shrink wraps would hold the lids on but, like you said, once that's gone, put the tube in your pocket and that lid is never going to stay on. Have you had the same problems with the filing trays?