Beeswax global demand surge has beards in a frizz and leaves beekeepers stung by shortage of Australian product
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A leap of $5 per kilogram to $30 for Australian beeswax could lead to a legion of scraggly beards. An increase in global demand has seen the price of Australian beeswax skyrocket in recent years, with local beards and beekeepers among the victims.
Australia's honey bee industry remains the only one worldwide that does not have the destructive varroa mite, which has caused extensive colony losses in the US and Europe.
That means local apiarists do not need to use chemicals to deal with the parasitic pest, so their beeswax is pharmaceutical grade.
It is so sought after, particularly in Europe for cosmetics, that the price has climbed from around $5 per kilogram five years ago to $30.
One person who has noticed the price hike is Kirsty Hunter, co-founder of the Dead Man's Beard Company based at Warracknabeal in regional Victoria, which uses the wax in its beard and moustache styling products.
"It's definitely becoming incredibly expensive," she said.
"We've been established for two years now and the price has almost doubled."
Currently the company is absorbing the extra cost by making savings elsewhere, but Ms Hunter said she fears it will eventually have to pass on the higher prices to customers.
"Men's grooming products are one of the first things that men will cut back on," she said.
Beekeepers getting raw end of wax price hike
Beeswax is taken from the hive, melted and then cooled in moulds to make honeycomb bases. Another industry struggling to afford the increased cost is, ironically, the same industry that produces the beeswax.
While some beekeepers have been able to take advantage of the higher prices, many others, particularly those affected by drought, have suffered.
Australian beeswax is sought after because it doesn't contain chemicals used to treat the varroa mite pest. Beekeepers use wax for new honeycomb foundations.
It is a form of recycling, in which the wax bees produce is melted down and made into indented sheets, which are inserted into new hives.
Cairns beekeeper Maurie Damon is having trouble sourcing the beeswax needed to increase his production.
He said suppliers are prioritising exports to take advantage of premium profits.
"The price was around about $4.50 to $5/kg and now you're looking at $20/kg, but it's very difficult to get hold of it," he said.
Beauty and health industries drive price
Beeswax can be used to make a range of products including candles, cleaning agents, food glazes and lubricants.
According to business reporting provider Transparency Market Research, cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications are the two major growth areas as consumers worldwide seek all-natural and healthy options.
Trevor Weatherhead, the executive director of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, said it is those products that are driving the global demand.
"There is a thing called the British Pharmacopoeia standard and Australia can certainly meet that, where a lot of the European countries can't because of the treatment for the varroa mite."
Are there alternatives?
In the beekeeping industry, plastic honeycomb foundations are available as an alternative to wax and are cheaper but still need a wax coating to encourage bees to use them.
Imported wax is another option, but new research by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council has discovered such products can be fake and pose a biosecurity risk.
Far north Queensland beekeeper Maurie Damon makes his own honeycomb foundations. "So we've been onto the Australian Government and we're trying to make sure any beeswax coming into Australia gets inspected because if we get those insecticide residues into our Australian honey then we'll lose that premium reputation."
For beard tamer Kirsty Hunter, there is nothing that compares to Australian beeswax.
"We don't want to take any backward steps in the quality of the product.
"So if the price of Aussie beeswax continues to climb we're going to have to look at increasing our pricing."
Booming demand for Australian beeswax
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Australian beekeepers say they're cashing in on a significant rise in the international demand for beeswax.
Beeswax is used to make cosmetics like lipstick, but in the northern hemisphere, it's tainted by a chemical called miticide, which is used to control varroa mite, a tiny parasite which attacks bees and eventually destroys their hives.
Australia doesn't have varroa mite and beeswax is rarely exposed to chemicals or residual sprays or pesticides.
Beekeeper Carmen Pearce-Brown, from Canberra, says demand for her beeswax has doubled in the past year and the price has risen from $3 to $7 per kilogram.
"The demand is huge. We've almost got a waiting list actually for our bulk wax," she said.
"It's a desperation in people wanting to source the wax and, for example, candle makers in metropolitan areas are making direct contact with beekeepers now to source wax for their candle making."
Capilano Honey's beekeeping services manager, Bill Winner, says demand for beeswax has increased by 25 per cent in the last two years and it's expected to continue to rise.
"As a company, we would export between 150 to 170 tonnes of beeswax to Europe and US customers and a little bit into Asia, annually," he said.
"The beekeepers produce it in seven to eight kilogram blocks and we stack them on export palates and we stress wrap them and place them onto shipping containers."
But Mr Winner says not everyone in the industry is capitalising on the beeswax boom.
"Australia's been influenced by severe drought over the past few years and that's presented in a honey drought. As a result, there's been a drop in the availability of beeswax, so it's far outstripped the ability to produce it," he said.
"So if a beekeeper was able to generate wax through the honey that he did produce, then that return is definitely assisting them greatly this year."
Mr Winner says mother nature will largely dictate whether the industry can meet the international demand for beeswax in the future. All that's needed is 'a good season'.
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