This post comes from Bob Browder as he shares some of his personal research about beeswax in America in the Traditional American Craftsmen Facebook Group.
Good morning friends and craftsmen.
Many times I have been asked why I use beeswax in my canteens so I thought I'd share this research with you. It was shared with me by a friend.
I'm not saying that this was the only product used, but "could" have been. What few surviving artifacts there are were lined with "pitch" which was a pine tar derivative. Nothing like today's "brewers pitch". There is a type of brewers pitch on the market which I used one time and believe me licking the sap on a pine tree would be more pleasant.
So without further ado here ya go:
Just like cast iron in the Colonies, I have heard many false claims about beeswax, since I have been in our hobby.
I have heard, and read, that beeswax wasn't common in Colonial America. They didn't use beeswax candles. They didn't waterproof items with beeswax. Etcetera, etcetera.
Here are the truths, as we know them:
Settlers coming to the New World brought hives of bees with them. They knew the importance of Honey bees, honey and beeswax! First records indicate 1622.
Not long after arriving in the Colonies, people figured out how to keep bees in wooden frame hives so that they did not have to kill off the bees in order to harvest the honey and beeswax.
In 1730, Virginia's beeswax exports totaled 343,900 pounds. Averaged out amongst the population at the time, that comes out to 20 pounds of honey and 2 pounds of wax, per person. That means that there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 172,000 hives harvested simply for exportation purposes alone.
Between 1740 and 1744, there was 8,000 pounds of beeswax exported out of Yorktown.
Beeswax was being exported out of Philadelphia, Charleston, Pensacola and Mobile, among many other places, in huge amounts.
In 1767, records indicate 35 barrels of beeswax exported from Philadelphia.
In 1770, records from Great Britain show the following amounts of beeswax exported from the British Colonies.....
62,800 pounds to Great Britain
50,500 pounds to Southern Europe
10,000 pounds to Ireland
5,200 pounds to the West Indies and Africa
In 1740 North Carolina and 1785 Tennessee, a person was permitted to pay taxes with beeswax, due to money shortages.
What was all this beeswax being used for?
Candles were high on the list. Beeswax candles burn clean, bright, and are drip-less (indoors) and they burn for a long time.
The Chinese invented lipstick, made with beeswax, 1,000 years ago. It started gaining popularity in Europe in the early 16th century.
Sealing and waterproofing. Beeswax was used to seal the insides of wine casks, bottles, containers and other items.
Shoe polish, leather treatment, jewelry casting, industrial lubricant, sewing and darning and a myriad of other uses.
