Did Native Americans Use Beeswax?

Beeswax is one of the best natural sealants you can use on your Native American Flute. In this video I'll talk about a common question I get asked which is "Did Native Americans have bees or use beeswax?"
Links Mentioned in this video:
www.britannica...
www.jstor.org/...
www.thoughtco....
To visit Blue Bear Flutes on the web: www.bluebearfl...

[@Tamaquashad]

Thanks Charlie, appreciate the video and insight. Don’t stop the tangents your old subscribers love them haha.

[@ChrisLeeW00]

Don’t let the haters get to you, your channel is important! Also, I love the Cherokee flute I bought from you, it’s a very inspiring instrument!

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Thank you my friend!

[@jagone5672]

Love what you do for our culture and our future.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Thank you my friend!

[@munchkin5674]

I have 2-3 flutes that I had made from tree limbs off some of my dad’s trees. One was tracked up pretty well with worm activity. This one has a side blow tube. As I am in far west Texas where the climate is very arid, these flutes have dried out a lot and some won’t play well, if at all. I would like to apply something, like bees wax, to the surface of these flutes for better wood care and help restore the flutes voice. Your advice is very appreciated on what to use and how to best apply it. I also just watched your most recent video where you made a flute from an agave stem section. I had commented about using sunflower, okra and eggplant stems. : ) I really liked the idea of scorching the flute surface with a torch to help harden and preserve the wood. I don’t think I should necessarily try this on the inside of one of these flutes as it might also involve note fine tuning. But I am wondering if I could try it on that flute with the worm tracks in the wood. This is the most interest that I have had in my flutes in some time. If getting my hands back on my flutes, for good maintenance and help them retain their voices, it might help me get back into playing them again. One of my most favorite places to play was any location that had a great echo. There is a connection in those places like no other. : ) Thank you for your time, patience and help! All my best! Happy New Year! : )

[@wat265]

Thanks for sharing this young man from Jacksonville Alabama be blessed

[@keithsmith5998]

Don't forget the Adena and Hopewell cultures in North America were also advanced in metal working. Their technology, in my opinion, rivaled that of the Mayan and Aztec.

[@astrobreaux]

in southeast asia there is a flute called a wot. the Atakapan word for flute is woc. both are bundle type pan pipes similar like the oceanic cultures play. beeswax does eventually dry like a drying type oil finish does.

[@BlueBearFlutes]

We're supposed to say "these two people are similar" however, if religion and language are similar then the people are probably -quite- similar! 😊 Thanks so much for posting the great info my friend!

[@williamstrome5271]

thanks charlie for this the 11 th tribe for those who know are all over the world but this continent is special in human history as for bees growing up in the hills of ky my aunt used to take us to the honey bee tree and we would collect the comb the bees were ok as long as you were'nt greedy about one third.

[@mikevandebunt811]

The technique that your father used to follow bees back to their hive is an old technique known to beekeepers as "bee lining." (That's the phrase to Google.) It has almost become a lost art, which was much more common in the 19th century. It would not surprise me if European settlers learned it from native peoples. Some beekeepers still use bee lining to locate European honey bees that have gone wild, so that they can re-hive them.

[@raimundoedilsonpinheiro6375]

Bom dia de Brasil!

[@tomcartmill401]

Thumbs up

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Can you imagine how "Mr. Thumbs-down" felt when they took that away? 🤣🤣🤣 I bet it was devastating!

[@WeberBaker]

Ok, off topic of the video - I was curious about the bag of coffee. Found it on Instagram, which pointed to the website. But the website and facebook page are gone. Do you have any insight?

[@BlueBearFlutes]

No, but I will find out!

[@Sheepdog1314]

the honey bee is not native to the North American continent. There are bees here, but none of them yield enough wax to use, without killing the hive. I think honey was harvested from the local bee hives in trees, not sure about the wax since that is vital to the hive's survival

[@BlueBearFlutes]

Hey Sheep, your comment suggests you did not watch the video or read any of the info in the description. (The video also hasn't been uploaded at this point long enough for you to have watched it before commenting! 🤣)

[@BlueBearFlutes]

I'm only here to help. You have to watch this video then follow up with the links to the pages in the description to know more.