1. Sensory identification method
(1) Eye view
The quality of beeswax can be judged by observing the color, state and impurity of beeswax with eyes. The color of beeswax varies greatly due to the nectar species, the new and old degree of the nest spleen, the extraction method and the storage time. Pure beeswax is bright and lusterless, usually it is light yellow, medium yellow or dark brown. The color of beeswax is dark every other year or placed for many years; the color of superior beeswax is the same up and down. Beeswax containing foreign matters is glossy and transparent. Generally, the color of beeswax mixed with ground wax is dark and light. The color of beeswax mixed with paraffin is bright. The color of beeswax mixed with starch is opaque.
The surface of pure beeswax block is generally convex, corrugated, with close section structure, fine crystal particles and no luster. Beeswax block containing foreign matters such as wax, paraffin, etc., with concave, smooth and ripple free surface, loose cross-section structure, coarse crystal particles, luster, twill or white particles. The beeswax block mixed with lacquer wax has a thinner section and a darker color than beeswax.
The pure beeswax has no obvious dead bee, sawdust, straw, gravel dust and other physical visible impurities.
(2) Aural hearing
Beat or throw beeswax from the air to the hard ground with a hammer and stick. The sound of pure beeswax is dull (dumb), just like throwing bricks on the ground. The adulterated wax containing paraffin makes a crisp sound, just like tiles hitting the cement ground.
(3) Nose smell
Break the beeswax block and smell the beeswax section with the nose. Pure beeswax has the beeswax aroma of pollen and nectar. Beeswax containing paraffin has peculiar smell or tasteless smell, such as rosin wax with strong pine fragrance, stearic acid or animal and plant fat with strong odor or foul oil smell, soap wax with soap smell, etc.
(4) Dentition
Take a small piece of wax and put it into the mouth to chew it with teeth. Pure beeswax is not easy to chew, spread or stick teeth, and it can be chewed into transparent slices without perforation. Beeswax containing paraffin, rosin, etc. is easy to break, chew and spread, stick teeth and chew slices, and it is easy to perforation.
(5) Push and pinch
Push wax surface with thumb belly, pure beeswax is astringent; beeswax surface containing foreign matters is smooth or sticky, greasy and soft. Gently push the wax surface forward with your fingernail. Pure beeswax can't scratch and can't afford wax flowers. Wax containing beeswax is easy to push and scrape out wax flowers. When the nail is rolled into the wax block, pure beeswax will stick to the nail. When the nail goes back, it will feel like beeswax holding the nail, and the wax surface will not show white mark; the beeswax containing paraffin will not stick to the nail, and it will slide, and a white mark will appear on the wax surface after the nail exits.
(6) Pull twist
The small piece of beeswax is softened by finger temperature or fire temperature. Pure beeswax is twisted into thin strips, which is easy to break when pulling, and the ends of the beeswax are neat. The two sections of wax are overlapped, which is easy to twist together and has good fusion. The beeswax containing paraffin is stretched when pulling, the ends of the beeswax are sharp, and the two sections of the beeswax can not be overlapped and twisted together, and the double skin is stratified and has poor fusion.
2. Simple inspection method
It is difficult to determine the quality of beeswax for the time being when abnormal beeswax is found through sensory identification. The following simple tests can also be made to judge.
(1) Inspection of mixed foreign matters
Burn the wax directly with fire. The wax beads melted by pure beeswax are dropped on the straw paper. The beads are even, thin, not soaked in straw paper, and free of impurities. The wax beads drop into the water as uniform flakes, transparent, and not fragile when twisted by hand. The beeswax block mixed with paraffin is directly burned with fire, and the melted wax drops are piled on the straw paper; the paper soaked with animal and vegetable oil is mixed; the wax beads mixed with starch are piled up with miscellaneous slag; the wax drops are solidified into a block in the water, with thin sides and thick middle, and easy to be broken by hand twisting.
(2) Stearic acid test
Melt 1g of wax block for a few minutes, add 80% alcohol, cool and filter, mix filtrate with equal amount of water, the solution is clear and transparent as pure beeswax; the solution is slightly milky white and opaque, and stearic acid condensation can be seen on the wax surface, proving that beeswax is mixed with stearic acid.
(3) Purity test
Take a small piece of wax and stick it on the glass ball of the thermometer, put it into a beaker filled with water and heat it slowly. The part of the thermometer with wax shall be kept LEM away from the bottom of the beaker. When the wax bulb starts to separate from the thermometer bulb and the temperature starts to rise, record the temperature shown on the thermometer, which is the melting point of the wax sample. The melting point of pure beeswax is between 62-67 ℃. If the melting temperature of wax sample does not match the melting point of pure beeswax, less than 62% or more than 67 ℃, it is proved that the wax is impure, which must contain paraffin, wax and other foreign matters.
(4) Paraffin test
Put 1g of wax sample into the test tube, add saturated potassium hydroxide solution to boil for 3-5 minutes, and then keep it in the water bath for about 30 minutes, with the temperature controlled at 75 ℃, so as not to make the wax liquid solidify. If the wax liquid is clear and transparent, it is pure beeswax; if there is fat ball floating on the wax liquid, it is proved that the wax sample contains paraffin, the larger the fat ball is, the more paraffin is contained. A broken head is sharp.
