Beeswax: quality issues today

This article concentrates on the main quality issues of Apis mellifera beeswax: production by bees and processing by beekeepers and manufacturers, overall chemical composition, as well as sensory and physicochemical characteristics. The main quality issues today are adulteration and contamination. Contamination from the environment being relatively small, the main contaminants are synthetic and persistent acaricides used in beekeeping. Measures for prevention of contamination are discussed. Information on beeswax economy, as well as on beeswax uses is given.