Worker Bee Soap

Do you see those bee hives w-a-a-y over there?  Those bee hives are situated on our ranch.  I really didn't want to trek over there and possibly get stung. 

All summer long the bees will work the clover and alfalfa in the surrounding fields. 

We don't manage the hives ourselves, but the honey producer generously gives us a good supply of honey and beeswax every year.  

alfalfa

We love the fact that this honey is literally a local product, made in Montana, made by bees working the clover and alfalfa fields on our ranch.  Not only do we enjoy the honey on just about everything, it also makes great soap!

Honey is a humectant (a substance that promotes retention of moisture) so it helps retain moisture on the skin in much the same way as glycerin. Although the active properties in honey do not survive the soapmaking process, the residual benefits of honey in soapmaking are richness of lather, moisturizing quality, and color of the final soap bar.

Beeswax obtained from the honeycomb of honeybees has many different uses.  Over the years I have played with the beeswax by making some lip balms and body bars.  Recently, a local mechanic needed some beeswax for his work (don't ask me what). 

Worker Bee Soap

There is a multitude of uses for beeswax and one of them is as an ingredient in soapmaking.

Beeswax retains the sweet fragrance of the honey and also contributes to the hardness of the soap bar.  Beeswax has a higher melting point than other fats and oils used in soapmaking.  Therefore, visible unsaponified flecks of beeswax remain in the finished bar of Worker Bee Soap.  

Fragrance oil was added to Worker Bee Soap, but in hindsight I don’t think any additional fragrance was necessary.  The honey and the beeswax alone impart a lovely, earthy, sweet fragrance.  Worker Bee Soap smells like one big chunk of raw beeswax with a touch of vanilla, lily, and peach … and that ain’t bad! 

Worker Bee Soap

Ingredient List

saponified

tallow

soybean oil

coconut oil

olive oil

honey

shea butter

beeswax

fragrance oil

I can't identify these birds, but they seem to be communicating with each other.  I thought I heard something about where is the nearest waterhole and when is it going to rain next?

There was a day long ago when this windmill on the ranch harnessed the power of the wind to pump water.   Now, its only job is to greet the wind daily across the rural landscape.   

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