Modern beekeeping is unthinkable without wide application of artificial refined beeswax, which is produced out of natural beeswax.

Approximately up to 80% of beeswax, produced in the country, is consumed by beekeeping itself. However, beeswax finds an application in more than 40 industries - aviation, textile, metallurgy, tanning, chemical, electrical manufacturing, fragrance, pharmaceutical, confectionary, etc.

It is absolutely impossible to replace wax with wax-like matter in certain technological processes, which testifies to a necessity of increase of wax production and reduction of its losses.

AE "Kharkovpcheloproduct" permanently buys beeswax.

Beeswax is classified according to a method of processing of raw wax material and has the following classes:

1. First-class beeswax - white or light yellow, without any impurities both inside and at the bottom of a bar. If broken, a beeswax bar has completely homogenous colour. The smell is pleasant, honeyed. Normally it is mainly apiary beeswax or so-called beeswax- dripping, obtained under reprocessing the raw materials in sun beeswax melting boxes. Beeswax of this class is quite solid and is used for production of artificial refined beeswax.

2. Second-class beeswax - tawny or hazel, pure, without any impurities. The colour may be inhomogeneous. The lower layers of a beeswax bar may be deeper in colour than the upper ones and the sediment must not be thicker than 1/3 of the beeswax bar. This kind of beeswax is obtained after processing of the lowest quality residues.

3. Third-class beeswax - deep brown, brown or grey with a considerable heterogeneity of colour. The sediment is not thicker than a half of a beeswax bar. Pressed beeswax that is obtained from merva and residues, and black beeswax that has darkened from metal ware, relate to this class.

4. Off-sort beeswax - burned, porous (emulsified), black or grey in colour as well as impure beeswax containing merva.