I just lernt what lanolin is. I thought it was like paraffin. I make my lube with paraffin, beeswax and vasoline. Beeswax makes it sticky. Paraffin makes it harder. Vasoline makes it slippery-er or thinner.
This is kinda neat to Read on Beeswax, and goes with me saying “Depends on the Beeswax” If it’s Refined, or Not. It shouldn’t be sticky.
Beeswax
Beeswax is secreted by honeybees of a certain age in the form of thin scales. The scales are produced by glands of 12 to 17 days old worker bees on the ventral (stomach) surface of the abdomen. Worker bees have eight wax-producing glands on the inner sides of the sternites (the ventral shield or plate of each segment of the body). Wax is produced from abdominal segments 4 to 7. The size of these wax glands depends on the age of the worker.
Honeybees use the beeswax to build honey comb cells in which the young are raised and honey and pollen are stored. For the wax-making bees to secrete wax the ambient temperature in the hive has to be 33 to 36 °C (91 to 97 °F). Approximately eight pounds of honey is consumed by bees to produce one pound of beeswax (8 kg/kg). Estimates are that bees fly 150,000 miles to yield this one pound of beeswax (530,000 km/kg). When beekeepers go to extract the honey, they cut off the wax caps from each honeycomb cell. Its color varies from yellowish-white to brownish depending on purity and the type of flowers gathered by the bees. Wax from the brood comb of the honeybee hive tends to be darker than wax from the honey comb. Impurities accumulate more quickly in the brood comb. Due to the impurities, the wax has to be rendered before further use. The leftovers are called slumgum.
The wax may be clarified by heating in water and may then be used as a lubricant for bullets, drawers and windows, as a wood polish or in candles etc. As with petroleum waxes it may be softened by dilution with vegetable oil to make it more workable at room temperature.
Rendering Beeswax:
Cut the wax into chunks. Wrap in two layers of cheesecloth and tie the cheesecloth securely. Fill a large stainless-steel or tin-plated pot with water. (Other metals can discolor the wax.) Put the wax in cheesecloth into the pot and weigh it down with a brick or other heavy object. Bring the water to a temperature of about 190 degrees F. Do not let it boil, as this will damage the wax, causing it to be brittle. Simmer the wax until it is all melted. As it melts, the wax will flow out of the cheesecloth, leaving most of the debris behind. The wax will float on the top of the water.
Remove the wax from the water and let cool. If the wax still has a lot of debris in it, repeat this process using four layers of cheesecloth. Some debris, called slumgum, will remain on the bottom of the wax. Slice this off with a hot knife.
Physical characteristics: It is a tough wax formed from a mixture of several compounds including: hydrocarbons 14%, monoesters 35%, diesters 14%, triesters 3%, hydroxy monoesters 4%, hydroxy polyesters 8%, acid esters 1%, acid polyesters 2%, free acids 12%, free alcohols 1%, unidentified 6%
The main components of beeswax are palmitate, palmitoleate, hydroxypalmitate and oleate esters of long-chain (30-32 carbons) aliphatic alcohols, with the ratio of triacontanylpalmitate CH3(CH2)29O-CO-(CH2)14CH3 to cerotic acid CH3(CH2)24COOH, the two principal components, being 6:1.
Beeswax has a high melting point range, of 62°C to 64°C (144°F to 147°F). It does not boil in air, but continues to heat until it bursts into flame at around 120°C (250°F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. Density at 15°C is 0.958 to 0.970 g/cm3.
Bees wax can be classified generally into European and Oriental types. The ratio of saponification (to convert (a fat) into soap by treating with an alkali) value is lower (3-5) for European beeswax, and higher (8-9) for Oriental types.
Hydroxyoctacosanyl hydroxystearate can be used as a beeswax substitute as a consistency regulator and emulsion stabilizer. Japan wax is another substitute.