11 Awesome Uses for Your Stored Honeycomb

When you think of getting started with beekeeping and the sweet rewards your new hobby might provide you, you likely think of honey. While honey is certainly a delicious beekeeping perk, it’s not the only product bees make that you can use and enjoy in your life. 

Honeycomb is a versatile substance that you can store and use in a variety of ways. Whether you leave it in its natural state or melt it to extract beeswax, you can enjoy your honeycomb in the kitchen, in personal care products, and even around the house.

Today, we’re sharing ways you can use stored honeycomb this beekeeping season!

Eating Your Honeycomb

Extracting honey from your honeycomb isn’t the only way you can enjoy its deliciousness. Honeycomb itself can be eaten in a variety of ways. That’s right; you can eat the whole thing!

And, honeycomb isn’t just tasty – it’s good for you! Your bees’ honeycomb has calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and sodium chloride. Comb’s natural antibiotic qualities and protein content help several of your internal systems function better, like your digestive system, immune system, and liver.

Honeycomb On Breakfast Breads

It’s as simple and delicious as it sounds. If you haven’t tasted honeycomb before, putting some onto your choice of breakfast bread is a nice intro to the delightful world of eating it. Try spreading your honeycomb over a hot piece of toast or a toasted English muffin or bagel so that it melts into the bread. 

Give Your Desserts a Sweet Touch

Your favorite desserts, like ice cream and cakes, are made all the more amazing with a honeycomb topping. Stir honeycomb into softened ice cream or custard, or spread it onto cakes. You can also mix honeycomb into your dessert recipes for an extra sweet finished product.

Top Your Salads With Honeycomb

Cutting your honeycomb into cubes and sprinkling your favorite savory salad with it adds a hint of sweetness different than what you’ll taste with a honey-topped salad. Using chunks of honeycomb limits the sweetness of your salad to each fork-bite, instead of the drizzle and spread of honey throughout. 

Want to hear about other ways you can use honeycomb and honey in the kitchen? Check out our Recipes & Remedies Collection e-book, which has tons of recipes and pairing ideas for you to try.

Create Personal Care Products With Beeswax

People have been using beeswax found in honeycomb for centuries, thanks to its many skin-smoothing properties. Once you’ve separated the beeswax from the honey and cleaned and rendered it for use in your personal care products, the sky’s the limits for its usefulness.

We have instructional videos and guides in Beepods Lab, our members-only area, that walk you through the process of extracting honey from the comb, cleaning and rendering your beeswax, and preparing it for use in personal care products. These steps are vital to making quality skin and hair care products yourself, so be sure to check out our tips!

Lotions

Beeswax is an ideal ingredient for lotions because of the fantastic job it does naturally of moisturizing and protecting skin. When used in lotion, beeswax forms a sealing (but breathable) layer that traps moisture and softens the skin. It is also high in Vitamin A, promoting cell regeneration (i.e. anti-aging) and boosting hydration. Soaps

Beeswax is a popular element in many DIY soaps, and for a good reason. Its moisturizing qualities I described above are ideal for sudsing up your whole body, especially in dry and cold climates. Plus, beeswax serves as a hardening element in soaps that can prevent it from dissolving too quickly and extends its shelf-life in your bath, shower, or on your sink.

Deodorant

For those who enjoy skipping the chemicals found in many drugstore deodorants and making your own at home, beeswax is a beneficial ingredient. Its stabilizing properties help your DIY deodorant maintain its “stick” form or whatever shape you wish it to take. Plus, its antimicrobial and moisturizing properties are beneficial for sensitive and – let’s just say it, potentially stinky – underarm skin.

Balms and Salves

You can use the beeswax from your bees’ honeycomb to make balms and salves that protect your skin and treat various ailments. Balms typically have a higher amount of beeswax, and their thicker consistency makes them great for slathering on to prevent dry skin. Salves use less wax, have a more smooth texture, and are ideal for treating things like sunburns and rashes.

Ready to make your own balms and salves? Check out our free online class. We’ll teach you how to use equipment you already have, render and prepare your ingredients, and even how to store and package your final products.

Using Beeswax Around the House

Candles

One of the most popular DIY uses for beeswax is making candles. Beeswax candles burn longer than those made with paraffin and don’t emit carcinogens into the area. Making beeswax candles is also a pretty simple process with the refined and melted wax you’ve removed from your honeycomb. You can easily create candles for safe use in any room of your house.

Furniture and Leather Polish

With just beeswax and olive or mineral oil, beekeepers can use their bees’ honeycomb to make furniture polish that brightens and cares for wood furniture. Beeswax can be used as a final step in refinishing wood furniture for maintenance and upkeep and brightening unfinished wood. 

For polishing your leather items, a simple block of beeswax can spruce up everything from a pair of boots to your favorite couch!

Crayons for the Kids

Beeswax serves as an excellent base for making your own crayons for your kids or yourself! Making crayons with beeswax is fun, easy, and you can make any color variation you’d like. 

Treat Your Baking Pans

Keep your pans in tip-top shape with a regular beeswax rubdown. Buff beeswax onto your baking pans and cookie sheets to help them stay new-looking. Use a cloth to rub beeswax onto their surfaces before using them, and in time, they’ll have a permanent layer of wax. You eventually can forget about oiling or greasing them each time you use them!

Conclusion

Bee sure to bookmark this post to revisit as you harvest your honeycomb this year. There are so many ways you can use honeycomb in your life, from eating it to caring for your furniture, and there’s no reason any of your bees’ hard-earned comb should go to waste. Let us know how to use your honeycomb, and of course, enjoy it!

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Kanoe Riedel

Kanoe Riedel is a freelance writer who enjoys learning about new and interesting topics. A Guam native, she loves traveling, trying new things, and spending time with her husband and their adventurous toddler.

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