DESCRIPTION

Beeswax, Yellow, occurs as a yellow to gray-brown solid with an agreeable, honey odor. It is the purified wax from the honeycomb of the bee Apis mellifera L. (Fam. Apidae), and it consists primarily of myricyl palmitate (myricin), cerotic acid and ester, and some high-carbon paraffins. It is somewhat brittle when cold, and presents a dull, granular, noncrystalline fracture when broken. It becomes pliable at a temperature of about 35°. Its specific gravity is about 0.95. Beeswax, Yellow, is insoluble in water and sparingly soluble in cold alcohol. Boiling alcohol dissolves cerotic acid and part of the myricin. It is completely soluble in chloroform, in ether, and in fixed and volatile oils. It is partly soluble in cold carbon disulfide and completely soluble in it at temperatures of 30° or above.