Harvesting honeycomb & rendering beeswax to make beeswax wraps, leather conditioner, and candles

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In this series we're going to share how we live off of the food that we grow in our community garden plots, or forage and hunt in the woods. This week we're harvesting honey and rendering beeswax to make food wraps, leather conditioner and beeswax candles!
Listen to more of Ethan's original music here: / lennoxec

[@erinhowett3630]

If you bought the yogurt for the container, then you really bought a container that came with some free yogurt!

[@iamnojedi99]

This is how I will think of every purchase I make from now on 🫡

[@Ivy-rc7jj]

I use this logic whenever I buy salsa with a nice jar. I love re-using glass jars!

[@patti6194]

You can use lids and seals for Weck jars with those to can with. Size small, I think.

[@saraherber1887]

I am ever so sorry you lost your hives. I can suggest these ideas to use your wax. 1. Cut inch wide strips of fabric, coat with wax and use as a bandage wrap. It works well on fingers. 2. If you have a leaky window, use those same bandage wraps to fill the gap and prevent drafts. 3. Granny waxed a flour sack to make it waterproof. It lasted for years. 4. A soothing diaper cream can be made with wax, oil and calendula. Your honey looks rich and flavorful. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for sharing. Your pianist friend makes for a lovely addition to your video content.

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Thank you so much for those great suggestions 🙂

[@VeryJoable]

My great aunt would leave a little honey in the beeswax when she made candles. “Sweet candles” she called them, to clear the air in a sick-room or to get rid of strong odors when a house has been shut up too long. It’s a sensory memory from my childhood.

[@big.g.fromohio3546]

Take your white filter cloth and hang it in the shed with all your hand tools. When you’re finished with them wash the dirt off then rub it down with the wax cloth. Keeps them from rusting.

[@pandorahunter]

I have never heard anyone offer sliding scale for someone on assistance. How wonderful, to offer that as your course could really impact those in a life saving and changing way. From survival to thriving. Thank you so much for being thoughtful and may it bring abundance to you for.your kindness

[@janeallan9491]

There are lots of fabulous lip balm recipes that use beeswax as the main ingredient.

[@ChantelLaFonte]

You can also use the wax for book binding thread and macrame art. Just a thought. Also thank you for sharing the process.

[@amberinezaki969]

I also bought these pricey yoghurts primarily for the containers! But the yoghurt is delicious and my little boy loved it. 10 years later, I still have the containers and many delicious pots de crème and panna cottas have been made in them.

[@sostoked07]

Every time you guys upload a longer video it feels like such a treat. ☺️ As always this was so relaxing and informative, thank you for the effort and the sincerity! 🐝 PS. Congrats on reaching Week 15!!! 👏🏻

[@lsheffield6205]

Don’t forget to use some of your wax mixed in a little mineral oil for your cutting board conditioner. I also use it on my knives with wooden handles. Smells fantastic and does and excellent job moisturizing. You guys are my heroes.

[@Madamoizillion]

I use sunflower oil instead of mineral to move away from petroleum byproducts.

[@briangrantackert1732]

Cool. Same goes for wooden countertops then eh?

[@myam1767]

This is one of my favourite videos of yours. It was peaceful, educational, and enjoyable in a really cozy way. Thanks for sharing!

[@shareeclifton2265]

I can smell that honeycomb through the screen. My parents had hives when I was a kid. I loved that smell

[@annabellapalme4992]

My 3 years old loveeees honey and this video was à fabulous way to show him how beautiful the process is ❤

[@Itihlwen]

you can make soap from beeswax, too. You can't use the cold process method as the wax requires higher temperatures to saponify, but as an addition in hot process soaps it's awesome and makes some very nice and hard bars. Add a bit of honey for the most wonderful foamy and moisturizig soap you've ever had. (honey should be used with caution in cold process soapmaking as well, as it heats up the soap batter, but in hot process it fares very well, as long as you add it after saponification!)

[@Zooballoo14]

The first ingredient in the foot balm I buy from the farm to table group we belong to is beeswax. Works fabulous on my heels.

[@juliawulac]

You should make some medicinal balms with the beeswax. Like a calendula balm for eczema or rashes, or plantain balm for bruises and wounds. You can also use it to make moisturizers!! Use the tallow, beeswax, and rose water together for a great smelling face cream

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

That’s actually very similar to what we usually do for skin balm 🙂

[@rubygray7749]

Another delightful glimpse into your idyllic life. The messy honey harvesting process would be easier if you invested in a few inexpensive tools. A metal tool for scraping the cappings off the combs. 4 or 6 gallon plastic honey buckets with proper gate valves for filling jars, and one or two different honey sieves to fit on top, would delete several steps and lots of stickiness. Anyrhing still sticky can be left outside in a tray for the bees to clean up! They're great recyclers. Do you make mead as well?

[@dudeman5812]

I was looking at the title and looking into her eyes and realizing what a cool thing they’re doing and thought 💭 Why am I not comment and liking all the videos so it will get more viewers? What a way of life it would be if people only had to grow food and raise animals.

[@sherylwhited7380]

There is something so appealing and soothing about your videos…the step by step processes are enjoyable to watch!

[@dw1952]

I always love the Moo cameos! what a sweetheart ❤

[@jkasak7633]

Cooling wax looks cool.

[@elichilli4624]

Beeswax, jojoba oil and sheabutter makes for really good and healthy lipbalm. The beeswax gives it a nice honey like smell as well. Never had a better lipbalm.

[@argentummolonlabe]

Pie salve for wound healing, deodorant and more is great with he bees wax as well. Equal parts pine sap, coconut oil (or any healthy oil or tallow) and a little bees wax to stiffen the salve. Double boil for a few hours to infuse and pour into containers. The best!

[@robertsemon1712]

Hope you find out what happened to your bees 😢 also these videos are incredible, they’re educational and relaxing and definitely aspirational. Appreciate you guys!

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Thanks, glad you’re enjoying them!

[@andersholt4653]

Fascinating how much you can do with a little bit of resources and plenty of ingenuity. I admire you. Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪.

[@ArtemisNightlock]

If you scrunch up the wax fabric a few times before using it sticks to itself much better.

[@mikaem]

You can always use some of the leftover wax in a number of skin salves. It’s one of the main ingredients in my favorite sore muscle salve. You could also use it in a number of skin care products. I’ve also seen another KZbin channel I watch on historical shoemaking use beeswax to help her make shoes.

[@tarawatterson4188]

Those time lapses are very cool! 😍 Cheers xxx

[@Wynnieberry]

Beeswax is also a great ingredient in a lot of homemade skincare products- it helps protect and strengthen the skin barrier. I use shea butter, coconut oil, vitamin E and beeswax melted together in a double boiler to make a lovely moisturizer

[@ash.lynn17]

This was probably the most satisfying video I've ever watched. Something about honey and beeswax is just SO beautiful! This will be my first year keeping bees and I'm so excited!!

[@Madamoizillion]

Beeswax is good for removing squeaking between wood joints, like if you have a wooden bed frame that creaks. I use straight beeswax on wood stacked shoe heels, you rub some wax across it and burnish it in with smooth polished wood (I use the handle of one of my polishing brushes) for a lovely shine. Pulling cotton or linen thread through a chunk of beeswax makes it stronger when sewing/mending. Similarly, pulling shoelaces through a beeswax chunk and hitting them with a bit of heat (I briefly pass them over a flame) makes them stronger and able to hold up longer to being pulled through lacing holes. Seeing those massive juicy slabs of honeycomb was making my mouth water. I have a huge craving to take a big bite of honeycomb but we don't have bees of our own and buying honeycomb is ridiculously expensive.

[@some.artist5435]

4:16 i didnt realise i was drooling untill i had to wipe it off my lips 😅

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

😂

[@gigig7855]

This is the coolest thing I have seen in a while.

[@brandyanderson2618]

Would highly recommend crockpots as they are the best for melting wax. Low constant temp and can be done anywhere you have a flat surface near an outlet! Thank you for the tip about using empty frames to increase the amount of wax per hive as I am far more into beeswax then honey!

[@erinhowett3630]

A jelly bag and stand might make the straining easier

[@fionnuirrenechain3381]

Another fantastic video, thank you for the high quality content, expertly produced.

[@tigerlily222]

SWEET! Just found your channel today which is BEE-utiful news, as we are starting our beekeeping adventure this year! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your friend's lovely music.

[@mariannafollador3065]

That honey / wax mix looks like gooey sunshine

[@lindasummer2343]

Such an awesome and educational video. I have been hankering to do some beekeeping, but I have to get over the price of a swarm trap and hive. I love how you showed straining your beeswax without using a honey extruder. It’s great to know that you can also use the honey water from the process so nothing is wasted. I have heard that when Mary Kay Ash started her cosmetic company, her first product was inspired by a hide tanner who had lovely skin from the product he used to soften his hides. Thank you for sharing your journey with us every week.

[@LaineyBug2020]

Beautiful music!

[@betty20s]

Another amazing relaxing and inspiring video of yours. Thanks so much for uploading these wonderful video’s. ❤

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

I'd love to see how you made the wicks--that's right up my alley! I make wraps and candles too, and I also use beeswax for lip balm, salve, soap. Thanks for another great video!

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[@Zenwarrior101]

This video was pretty awesome! 🔥

[@kimberlyosse]

Listen this channel deserves a million sub too good

[@rainnmoon114]

I'm very sorry about your bees. :( Have you guys ever thought about reaching out or watching Fredrick Dunn? He is a well known bee keeper in PA. Btw thank u. This was a very therapeutic video.

[@jf7654]

I highly recommend insulating your hives in the future. More research is coming out that hives in trees are well insulated and clustering is a survival technique, not a natural state for bees in the winter. That cluster looked small. How were your mite checks? What treatments were done? In the future I'd also recommend getting VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene) bees. I can email you some rec's for people locally.

[@iamnojedi99]

Watching the honey drip was sooo satisfying! The whole process was very satisfying. Y’all should do a video without any music and just the ASMR!

[@fatherofchickens7951]

Gorgeous!

[@justalittleguy733]

LOVE this video!! so inspiring. thank you guys!

[@LaineyBug2020]

One of my favorite natural snacks is to stick a hunk of honeycomb in the freezer! I'll use a spoon get a frozen chunk and chew it. The honey turns into an almost taffy consistency and it's fun chewing on the wax!

[@Swarmstead]

Nice. You'll probably catch a swarm in the empty equipment. Free bees!

[@Izzy-kh6iu]

Watching this has gotten me craving baklava, which was always a favourite of mine growing up

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Same! The Syrian version that I grew up with (baklawa) had rose water syrup instead of honey, but we might have to start making the Greek version now that we have so much honey 🙂

[@RossPotts]

@homegrownhandgathered, given the subject matter, I’d say a better title for the soundtrack @5:27 would be “Caramel Windchimes”, LOL!

[@conorcroskery6195]

I rinse the crushed wax with water to get the leftover honey off, put the wax in a pot ontop of a vegetable steamer lined with cloth. Then I stick it in the oven at 170° so it can melt through the strainer and into the pot!

[@vaishalimehta142]

Amazing incredible really

[@danielleosentoski520]

Fascinating process! Your honey looks like liquid gold! Make lip balm with the wax!

[@dropsintolife1913]

I feel you. Lost 4 of my 5 hives this winter.

[@ABomB42o]

Try a salad spinner? For separating wax and honey

[@LaineyBug2020]

If you crinkle the wraps they will stick to themselves better and form better to what they're covering!

[@ellens2476]

i weigh the residual wax/honey mix then wash the honey out with as little of measure warm water as possible then weigh the washed wax so I know how much honey is in the water. Then I weigh the wax and know how much honey is dissolved. when doing a full batch i add the remainder towards 7kg of honey and too it with water to 25l in a carbuoy.then I use mead yeast and let it ferment under airlock for min 2month, decant and keep fermenting/keeping it. the yeast will die off around 18% alcohol. then i bottle it and if you you can keep it for a long time and it gets better by the year. of course you can make any fraction of the above as long as you keep the ratios.

[@tobiasschwarzberger2267]

I have a theory as to what may have happened to your bees. It looks like the hives that died out were both horizontal hives that have the frames going perpendicular to the direction the winter cluster would be travelling. These sorts of hives, while very practical for the beekeeper, tend to not perform very well in cold temperatures. Due to the way the comb is arranged, it can happen that, during a particularly cold bit of time, the cluster doesnt manage to get to the other side of a frame, where there is still honey, meaning they starve centimeters away from stores. Obviously, I am basing this off of very little information, so I could be entirely wrong, it is just my best guess given what I could see.

[@KateInColor]

Loved that the ants made an appearance. 🐜🐜

[@learningtobeme5195]

That honey is an amazing color! Is that from age or from the nectar sources in your area?

[@Thinkin_inkan]

Without processing, it’s the source of nectar that determines the shade of honey

[@storyof4twins815]

A ritual, offering, or alter for sure ❤

[@davidmitchell1304]

You should consider doing a film for Justin Rhodes film contest he is doing.

[@donmartin7728]

I have been told ants do not like cinnamon. Can do cinnamon around your moat for double protection.

[@dieterfritz1502]

Nice Video, as always :) As to your lost hives: Im an Beekeeper, and have some points: If you have not found any signs of an american foulbrood infection, then the most likely cause of the collapse is the varroa mite, did you treat the hives against those? Oxalic acid and formic acid are the most reliable options to do so. Typical signs of an hive that died to the mite would be an nearly bee free box in the end. Another reason may be that the bees could not reach the honey, that would be the most likely case if you found a lot of dead bees (the majority of the hive) in the bottom of the box (this can happen even if there is plenty of honey in the box) As a side note, are you swapping out old, dark combs in the brood nest? That helps to keep the hives heathier, but tends to be more difficult in boxes in your hive style Hope that helps and you could understand what im trying to say, english isnt my first language :D

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Thanks for the info! There was no sign of foulbrood or varroa and the dead bee ball was on a comb that had plenty of honey so we’re stumped. We think maybe it was a moisture thing because we built the bee box ourselves and I worry that we didn’t design it to have the right amount of airflow that they need in the Winter

[@conorcroskery6195]

Do you do any mite treatments on your hives?

[@erinhowett3630]

Is it possible they froze?

[@emmajohnston5112]

I would search "bee poop". When the weather is too cold, bees cannot eliminate by doing a "cleansing flight". Often bees will hold onto the poop and get sick. The more pure the honey (sugar wise), the less they need to eliminate. I've heard of beekeepers supplementing their bees corn syrup during winter months to help with this problem.

[@juneasnider9992]

How do you clean the wooden pieces that came out of the hive? There was so much sticky stuff on them.

[@johnsmalldridge6356]

Have you thought about making mead?

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Yea we might get a batch going next month actually!

[@juliesaye6183]

How sad about the hives, but I would have been more concerned if there was fresh honeycomb and Jordan wasn’t snacking on it. That’s tantamount to a crisis! 😂 My own sweetie has a big sweet tooth as well, so we both enjoyed this newest video. 👍🏻

[@Spicyramenmama]

Did you do something different with your hair? It looks amazing. Im not sure if its the color or the way it frames your face, or both but you look beautiful

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Aw thanks! Honestly it’s really dirty haha so I think I just got lucky with how it looks today :)

[@LaineyBug2020]

Do you do anything with the cheese cloth gunk or does it just go in the compost?

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

We use that for fire starters when we’re camping 🙂

[@kerihess6689]

Hello, I seen in another video that you did the crush and strain method for extracting your honey. I did this as well, but now I'm finding it hard to clean my foundations. How did you guys clean your foundations before putting them back into the frames and then coating them with wax before giving them back to the bees? I have searched all over the internet and asked my bee group and no one can tell me. I do not want to use bleach, can you please share what you guys did? Thanks so much

[@mclarksws]

Have you tried adding a few drops of an essential oil to your candles?

[@rrg419]

Beeswax smells so beautiful on its own! Essential oils would just pollute it.

[@LaineyBug2020]

If you soak the whole wick in wax first it will burn much longer!

[@luzianeanterodemorais6904]

Por favor coloque legenda em português

[@nataliegranik811]

Did you guys buy your bees or are they local/feral bees that you’ve caught?

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

They're local swarms and splits

[@nataliegranik811]

Oh interesting, I just got into bee keeping and heard local ones tend to be more hardy. If you guys find out what happened I’d be interested in hearing an update! Also thanks for sharing the honey and beeswax process, it’s helpful for a newbie like me :)

[@Popintheegarden]

I go hard for Caramel Windchimes

[@ria600]

Maybe it's the mites.

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

There was no sign of mites. We let them build natural comb which means their cells are slightly smaller than wax foundation and that makes it harder for mites to fit in there with the larvae

[@teedub1990]

This is so interesting. I'd love to play around with beeswax but have no inclination to actually keep bees. I'll have to see if it can be bought and if so, if it's really beeswax.

[@PAFM1964]

Looks like caramel mmm

[@pamelaboyland6953]

Are you guys selling your honey?🤩

[@rrg419]

I feel like that’s akin to asking someone if they sell their groceries.

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

No, but we share a lot with friends and family and occasionally trade for things we don't grow

[@erinhowett3630]

Why not filter it directly through the fine mesh and save yourselves a step?

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

It takes forever if you just try to strain through the fine mesh with the wax still mixed in

[@sandrafarley7967]

I would always keep madisi9nal herbs growing in your garden so the bees have natural herbs for their health on hand in the summer. We as a people kill what we preceve to be weeds that help bees survive

[@nicolemyers8551]

If only 1 foreign bee can get into their hive to steal their honey then they will come back to kill the whole hive. With bees from another hive all around stealing honey, I would suspect there was a fight over their honey & your bees lost. 😢

[@ImmortalLemon]

There’s two reasons why I cannot keep bees: The first is that I don’t have the space, equipment, or time to devote to properly caring for any hives The second reason is that I will eat all the honeycomb before I even get it back inside the house

[@Theorganizationmaven]

Did you see my past comment about creamed honey?

[@HomegrownHandgathered]

Must have missed it, but we’re actually gonna try making that with some that has crystallized 🙂

[@AnastasiaBeaverhousn]

H8, sorry about the bees.. Are you guys removing the hard outter layer before trying to spin the honey out?