| |
| |
|
Science Information |
|
|
|
Bees Wax; History and Origin
We have often been asked where wax comes from? Well there are many types of Waxes. Bees wax has been around for a while. There are many mentions of beeswax in historic writing such as the myth where Icarus son of Daedalus put on wings of wax and as he flew too close to the sun, it melted and Icarus fell to his death. The father with more experience flew closer to the ground and made it to Italy. In Roman times Pliny, lived from 23 AD to 79 AD and described white bees wax which he got by boiling yellow bees wax in salt water. This was then used in broth and feed to those with dysentery, it was also used as a skin softener. Some beeswax to this day is used in cosmetics. Virgil the great Roman Poet (well I do not think the stuff is that good) wrote of an invention by Pan, who was the guardian of the bees (an ancient bee keeper man) made a flute of reeds held together by bees wax. During the Middle Ages wooden panels covered with beeswax was noted by Homer a Greek poet. Many Romans were honored by having statues made of them selves made in bees wax and thus today we have the Movie Land Wax Museum in LA. Romans also wore Death Masks as well occasionally. The Egyptians used wax figures of deities in funeral ceremonies and placed them in graves. In 400 BC Greek Historians say that Persian coated bodies were a form of embalming. The Assyrians covered bodies with bees wax and then dipped the bodies in honey? Hey honey, who knows? In 181 BC when the Romans defeated the Corsicans and imposed a tax of 100,000 lbs of bees wax. The Romans demanded bees wax when they conquered the city of Trebizond in the first century AD. In Medieval European times wax was a a unit of trade for taxes or other. In 1330 farmers in one region of France paid 2 lbs of bees wax per year. On 1632 records show that the French Monastery called for rent of 600 lbs. of bees wax per year. Also in 1371 a petition was presented to the London Court of Alderman in behalf of the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers, which established them as the world's oldest English Guild. In 1483 the company received a Royal Charter with authority to oversee the craft of wax chandlery. And when faults were found to punish the offender, which included seizing the wax. Candles of bees wax were at one time required by the Roman Catholic Church as the exclusive and only candles. The bees were brought to Puerto Rico by the church and the early priests and conquistadors. These same bees although dwarfed in comparison to the original bees are still habiting the island today. Today bee's wax is sometimes used in Automobile waxes but normally it is most used in furniture wax and polishes. You can make your own wax very easily, my ancestors did on the plantation on Cape Cod. First you need a couple of pots to boil in and a pot of hot water. Liquid Beeswax furniture polish is simple, use one quarter cup of ivory soap, one quarter pound of beeswax, 1 cup of turpentine and half a cup of water. Dissolve the soap in hot water, put the shaved wax into the turpentine and then slowly melt together, then pour the soap mixture into the mix and stir with a wooden spoon, once well stirred pour it into a glass jar and you have it, very easy. Bees wax cream furniture polish which can also be used on cars with lessened amount of turpentine is made by using and mixing quarter lb of beeswax, 2 cups of turpentine, quarter cup of liquid Ivory soap, 1 cup of warm to boiling water and quarter cup of pine oil. The only difference it you have to make sure all the beeswax is dissolved first and cool then mix it into the warm soapy water until it congeals and then reheat together and dissolve. If you reduce the turpentine content you can use it on your car too. It goes on smooth and it works good. Although, I am partial to Carnauba wax for cars for it's ease of use, but from a realistic standpoint of protection the carnauba only lasts three months while the beeswax melt might last slightly longer. For solid beeswax furniture polish, which is preferred by the antique dealers we met on the back roads of NH, VT and Maine, all you do is use equal amounts of linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine. The finished product is golden brown and see through and looks rich in content. Now you have smelled lemon oil in furniture polish, which can easily be added to the boiling water during the process. There are many good waxes to use on cars that you would not put on surf boards, furniture or statues. Wax is found in the human ear also. There are two different types and your genetics dictate which one you have. Most plants have a thin protective coating of wax also. Most fruit and citrus trees and vegetables plants have wax on the fruit, leaves and vegetables they produce that we eat. Waxes are also produced by animals and also some fish. Other wax components are found in minerals and petroleum products and distillates. There are Polymer or synthetic, manufactured by man into various types of waxes. We get waxes from a variety of sources really. The Carnauba we discussed is a preferred wax by many detailers. Carnauba wax is on the leaves of the carnauba palm trees. The best Carnauba wax comes from in my opinion the Palm Trees of Brazil. You can tell a good carnauba wax by the water beads up as you see when you detail your car. Candelilla wax comes from a plant that grows in parts of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala and sometimes in the southwestern United States. It is a brown wax and not only have people used it on cars it is used in phonograph records, floor dressings, and candles. Although it is the major component of candle wax, it is mixed in with other waxes normally in the candles we use in our homes. Polymer wax includes the very popular Teflon, yes a polymer brand Name used by Dupont. Polymer wax is a chain of compounds made of petroleum sources and now a days from Corn products. Polymers, which are strung together are generally applied in specific thick nesses to clear coats on cars and depending on the mixture can be quite incredible indeed. So good in fact that they are often called sealants and some last as long as a year when applied in the right mixtures and thick nesses. The word Polymer is a very vague in this regard since polymers are used to make plastics, coatings and many other products. Generally short chains of ethlenic polymers are the type that are used by professional automotive detailers and auto detailers a like. Many in the aviation industry use it when doing specialized aircraft cleaning. We estimate that 80% of all automotive detailing and aviation aircraft cleaning commercial wax is petroleum based wax. Petroleum wax is chemically inactive in a sense and probably why it is so widely preferred. It is also cheaper to make than to harvest and has tons of uses. You cannot smell it unless cleaners are added which is often the case, but still it will not react to cause odor. Bayberry wax, which comes from the berries the shrub with that name is also used in candle making. How is this produced? From bees, the same wax in making hives. Bee's wax, is used for many things which are common to man; things such as candles, polishes, cosmetics (mostly make-up) crayons, flowers (artificial kind). Bee's Wax is another wax that yes you can use it on your car and it is hard to spread and it will give off a great shine. The problem is gathers dust too quick, but it does look cool. Wool wax from animals is also common to man. Lanolin, it is called, after purification is used in soaps in the industry, and also cosmetics as well as certain ointments for first aid and which doctor stuff. Petroleum wax can also be made hard and then we get a new type of wax. Paraffin; used in paper products (cups, paper plates), graffiti, and petroleum jelly. All Synthetic waxes are compounds of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and/or chlorine. Chemists will forever be trying to make the perfect wax for cars, boats, Aircraft to protect us from the harsh climates on the surface of this little blue planet. And these chemists are driven by desire and need and the possibilities are endless as new compounds are adding to existing ones to bring up whole new blending ideas, some will revolutionize our industry but most will simply be duds. Some will be hyped even though they do not really solve a problem or fix a need. Never the less, the race goes on to find the best and we should be thinking about what is in that product before we put it on a customers car, boat, aircraft or prize possession. This is what the professional detailer does, this is why we are experts in car care and call ourselves auto detailers, rejuvenation specialists and professional auto detailers. There are so many types of waxes that we know of really. From the organic waxes discussed containing carbon materials, which melt at fairly low temperatures. The chemical and biological make-up of waxes is so diverse and complex as well as consideration for grades, properties, surface uses and life spans that to really understand waxes in depth, but I hope this has cleared up some of the complex issues concerning wax, how it is made and where it comes from. "Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
MORE RESOURCES:
Science - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Down Scrolling Text to Find Patterns I believe a program can be written to scan text such as an email, story or article in Western Languages, which might indicate a pattern which maybe of valuable insight. By Down Scrolling Text, which we have all done, whether thinking about it or not, we will most likely Find Patterns Which Indicate Hostile Intentions, sadness, stress or vengefulness. Smart Dust and Virtual Keyboards Using Smart Dust which is sprinkled onto a rock it maybe possible to type information into a small computer or PDA very rapidly. This could be quite handy for many things such as; Search and Rescue, Fire Fighting, Civil Air Patrol, Hikers and Mountain Climbers and of course military applications. X-37 UAV Has Potential X-37 Moves Forward, Now What? Well, here are a few ideas of taking this craft to a whole new level and plateau in American Ingenuity and Innovation. NASA has learned a lot from the X-37 tests and will now turn it over to DARPA, which makes a lot of sense indeed. UAV - Terrain Following Technologies There are many technologies being used today such as ultrasonic sensors, which provide non-contact for solution levels in liquid storage tanks. Using this technology the tanks can use non-corrosive methods to prevent failure of parts. June 2005: Weather Forecasts for Vacationers If Johannes Kepler, the renowned 17th century astronomer and discoverer of the planetary laws of motion, could speak from the heavenlies, he might have a few words of wisdom to share with the National Weather Service. Although Kepler's name is not normally associated with meteorology, he was quite the weather forecaster in his day. Weather Control and Creation to Use as a Screen for Troop Advancement Creating a Hurricane using a Space based laser array to heat up surface waters when conditions are right. By using a tropical storm system and super heating the water in the path and then in a counter clock wise direction if in the Northern Hemisphere or Clock-wise if in the Southern Hemisphere because;"A hurricane is an immense circulating storm, an intense case of a class of weather systems called tropical cyclones. Hominid Inter-breeding 'Kenyanthropus platyops': - Perhaps the 6,000,000 year old men found by a maverick who went behind the authorities back at the Olduvai Gorge will be proven to actually not be outside the australopithecine lineage. But the Leakey family has found a 3. Fire Escape System Concept What if in the event of a fire the building system started putting out instructions using sound waves of the best possible escape route? Using the pictures on the wall and windows to guide trapped occupants and guide them to the safest exit? It is all possible now due to an old technology which is now being used thru a transfer into the public domain. Smoke inhalation is the number one cause of death in fires. UAV Stealth and Radar Energy Capture for Power and Propulsion A Feasible Idea for UAV Flight, Possible Research and Development Test; UAV Stealth and Radar Energy Capture for Power and Propulsion to drive your enemy crazy.Powering a UAV, while being able to reuse it, increasing it's payload takes a lot of trial and error and engineering and research, which of course costs lots of money. Medical Miracle or Mistake? Fundamental elements of life and the aspects of cloning bring dramatic advancement to the scientific and medical community; however, is this fast-paced artificial reproduction an intrusion of Nature or a doorway to infinite, medical cures?In lieu of scientific developments in the biological mainstream, the human intervention of life and it's natural state are of utmost concern. Questions are being raised as to what constitutes life produced naturally into this world as opposed to man-made biocreationism. Creating Artificial Time in a Vacuum With Pulsed Lasers Keying off a very interesting concept confined within Static Quantum Theory and looking for the edge of time or the end of energy or the Quantum Borderline or virtual boarder of nothing. One might use the idea of pulsed lasers created in a defined confined area of a vacuum to create a singularity of a pulsed laser, whose immediate disruption pulses of the singularity which would follow would reach the end of the confinement area faster than the light which would in fact be created and then this traveling disruption would trigger another pulsed laser reciprocal event on the far side of the confinement whose pulsed laser would send it's disruption of the event to occur to the original point of the first singularity of the original laser or starting point, which would trigger the turning off of the first laser before it created the event of singularity or light. Ancient Inventions and Anthropology ANCIENT INVENTIONS: - In Alexandria and in the Cave of Hathor there appear to be reasons to believe we had electricity. There is no doubt that fraudulent traders were using electrum plating techniques to make gold plate on other metals to sell as pure gold. UAV Blimps Powered By Hydro-Electric Motors Using Hydro and Fluid Dynamic Theory I believe it is possible to design a pilot-less hydro-electric blimp which would have a propulsion system which never requires fuel and would be based on a Perpetual Motion Machine which uses fluid dynamics in a hydro-electric. First the shape of this thing would be similar to the new shopping mall shade cover on the Las Vegas Strip. Cold Fusion And as I was typing this, I stopped for a while to watch the news and saw that what I wrote just a while ago in terms of human evolution has already become the likely scenario according to the media because of a new skull found in Kenya. A 3. Hobbits and Lice HOBBITS AND LICE:In late 2004 the media was all agog with the small hominids found on Flores Island where I had written about artifacts showing sea travel technology must have existed. I had argued with many people about the issue and their argument had some merit in that we had no proof of a connection to humans or the nearby Mungo Man. Ocean Polymer Goo to Stop Enemy Ships, a Concept Naval blockade using polymer goo to stop fleeing ships might be possible. In this concept we will use the goo to stick to the bottom of the opposing navy's vessels. Marine News - Summer 2004 - Our Ocean Environment Our oceans are home to many marine mammals, fish, turtles, corals and others. The delicate balance between man and the ocean is constantly being challenged by the demands of our society. Divining Your Soul Number Your Soul Number, which defines your very essence or heart's desire, is calculated using the vowels in the name that appeared on your birth certificate. This reading describes what you or another person value or want most in life. Enemy UAV Defense is under consideration Unmanned Aerial Vehicles should be shot down from the air rather than the ground because if they are flown tele-robotically the operator who is looking down and forward will not know where the anti-aircraft device is. If the enemy uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to draw fire, which is a smart move for them, then once fired upon the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle whether it is shot down or not has now located our weaponry and troops. Magnetic Propulsion for GI Joe? Thought of the day. I talked to an old guy who gave me this idea, he wanted to create a magnet propelled anti-gravity and directional control craft.
|
| home | site map | Xray Photography |
| © 2006 |
