Project Overview
Commodities
- Animal Products: beeswax
Practices
- Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research, workshop
- Production Systems: agroecosystems
Proposal summary:
Beeswax cappings obtained during honey extraction from 10 apiaries in Virginia and North Carolina were analyzed for pesticide residue. One sample (10%) had no contaminants detected. Nine samples (90%) contained one or more detectable contaminants, but overall contained 50% fewer contaminants than found in beeswax foundation. The top two contaminants were fluvalinate and coumaphos but at significantly lower levels than found in foundation samples in a previously published report. Although the sample size was small, results suggest capping wax is a potential source of less contaminated wax for use in creating wax foundation for honey bee brood chambers.
Project objectives from proposal:
The objective was to determine if beeswax cappings would be a potential source of uncontaminated or less contaminated wax for use in making wax foundation for use in honey bee brood chambers.