Well, my bees did not survive the early winter. Kind of sad, but at least I have honey and beeswax from all of their hard work. We probably had colony collapse due to those pesky varroa mites. I treated with thymol, but it did not do the trick. Next Spring we will try again.

Anyway,  I mixed this up today — a beeswax and shea butter bar for dry skin.  It’s winter, and I’ve wanted something with a little more beeswax and less oil.  The following ratio of ingredients feels about right — the proportions of beeswax to sunflower seed oil, to shea butter. I use a kitchen scale to measure accurately, and I highly recommend one. You can melt your ingredients in a Mason jar or a Pyrex glass jar. I always put mine in a pan of water, which is then placed on the stovetop. I use good quality beeswax that I source from a beekeeper (or myself.) I really don’t trust the stuff imported from China or elsewhere. Your beeswax should smell like honey/beeswax.

Super easy to make. I tripled the recipe this time — enough for my sister, my daughter, and my granddaughters.

Beeswax Body Butter Bar

2 ounces  Sunflower Seed Oil

2 ounces Beeswax

1.4 ounces Shea Butter

Put all the ingredients together in a Pyrex glass jar. Next, use a large pan that can go on the stove, and put water in the pan about 1/3 of the way up the pan. Now, place the Pyrex glass jar that contains the ingredients in the pan. (Do not pour the contents into the water; just set the glass jar in the water bath. Heat the pan on medium, maintain low heat while the contents in the jar melt.

When melted, pour into molds.