How to identify natural beeswax

Beeswax is an amorphous body that does not contain other minerals. The most common types are yellow beeswax and white beeswax. Some beeswax is translucent. Natural beeswax can float on the water. Moreover, the formation of beeswax takes tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years. The types and colors of beeswax formed in different regions are also different. They all have extremely high collection value. However, due to the scarcity of beeswax and the increasing number of people who yearn to collect beeswax, some illegal vendors have produced some imitations. So, how to identify natural beeswax?

First, how to identify natural beeswax ? In a saturated salt water solution with a ratio of 1:4, beeswax, lightweight plastics and resins can all float, while ordinary plastics, glass, acrylic and bakelite sink. The inconspicuous part of amber that is pierced by a needle that is burned red has a faint smell of pine. Bakelite and plastic give off a pungent odor and stick to needles. Beeswax is a neutral organic gemstone. It won’t be too hot to wear in the summer and it won’t be too cold to wear in the winter. It is very gentle. Using glass or chalcedony to protect it will feel cold and heavy. If you gently rub the polished natural, unmolded amber beads in your hands, they will make a very soft and slightly dull sound. If they are made of plastic or resin, the sound will be crisper. There are slight changes on the surface of the material, but the synthetic ones basically do not change color. Rub beeswax on clothes to attract small pieces of paper.

Second, beeswax has almost no smell when rubbed , and only emits a pine scent when burning. Amber will turn into powder if cut with a paper cutter, resin will fall off in chunks, plastic will turn into rolls, and glass cannot be cut at all. If you use a hard needle to pierce amber at an angle of 20-30 degrees to the horizontal line, there will be a bursting feeling and very fine powder residue. If it is plastic or other materials with different hardness, it will either be impossible to pierce, or it will feel very sticky and even go in.

How to identify natural beeswax ? Use a cotton swab to rub the surface of amber repeatedly, and there will be no obvious changes. Plastic, pressed and amber remain unchanged, but resin and copal will corrode and produce sticky pits because they are not petrified. If you soak rosin in potion, it will slowly melt. Some amber has a layer of polishing substance on the outside, which will turn into white spots when rubbed with medicine, but this white spot can be scraped off with the fingernail to reveal the surface of the amber, and there will be no change when rubbing the medicine on it. The potion will still have an 18%-20% solubility in amber, and the surface may become foggy after soaking for a long time.