Beehive Alchemy: Projects and recipes using honey, beeswax, propolis, and pollen to make soap, candles, creams, salves, and more

by Petra Ahnert

From crayons to cough drops, cookies to candles, Beehive Alchemy offers a comprehensive introduction to incorporating the miracle of bees into everyday life.

Beehive Alchemy is a continuation of Petra Ahnert's best-selling Beeswax Alchemy. With this new book, beekeepers (and bee lovers) will learn about the benefits and attributes of beeswax, honey, propolis, and more alongside a full range of projects and techniques to process and harness the amazing gifts of bees. Inside, you'll find instructions to make Ahnert's award-winning hand-dipped birthday candles, the classic French dessert canele bordelais, and much more, including:

Alchemy for the Body

Liquid soap with honey Beard balm Olive and honey lotion Alchemy of Light Taper candles Tea lights Pillars Alchemy for the Home Furniture polish Waxed cotton food wraps Woodcutter incense Alchemy in the Studio Beeswax crayons Encaustic Batik Alchemy in the Kitchen Cookies and candies Beverages Fermentations Whether you keep bees or just love them, Beehive Alchemy will become your go-to comprehensive guide for hive-to-home creations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2018

Reviews

[Literary Redhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEEHIVE ALCHEMY’s publishers note says that it teaches bee fans how to use beeswax, honey, propolis (bee glue), and more in a range of projects and recipes. It notes that beekeeping is growing in popularity and says this guide shares easy-to-follow details for concocting your own candles, cookies, cough drops, soap, creams, and salves. Follows the high success of author Petra Ahnert's best-selling BEESWAX ALCHEMY. The cover and what photography I could see were gorgeous, however, formatting issues prevented my seeing any text. Giving it 4/5 for the beauty of what was visible.

Pub Date 07 Aug 2018

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#BeehiveAlchemy #NetGalley

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

with all the news of the demise of the everyday honey bee and what it will mean to us, Petra Ahnert has chosen to give us a look into another side of bees. We have a large farm and had been considering setting up a couple of hives but were not sure what to do with them, other than honey. This book contains so much information along with numerous suggestions for every bee by product, that the benefits of bee keeping far out weigh the difficulty of learning this skill. She has given me a new look at what the world of bees can do for us.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Beehive Alchemy: Projects and recipes is a new recipe/DIY/how-to book from Petra Ahnert. Released 21st August 2018 by Quarto publishing group's Quarry imprint, it's 160 pages and available in flexibind paperback and ebook formats.

This is a good basic how-to guide for beecrafting. The book is well photographed in color and arranged logically in chapters with recipes grouped around the area of use- bodycare, candles, home use (including a solid recipe for furniture polish, a classic - you never forget that smell), studio projects (batik, multimedia), foods, etc. This book has a short intro, a usable index at the back, and some useful appendices which provide conversions for baking, info on various oils used in the bodycare recipes and their properties, some safety info with links to online lye calculators for the soap projects, along with a short bio. There are links to online resources scattered throughout the book; most are aimed at North American readers.

There's nothing truly groundbreaking here, but it's always nice to add to the apiary and crafting libraries and this particular book fills a niche (crafting with bee products) which isn't overcrowded. The skincare products are wholesome and down to earth and safe. The crafting projects are fun and appealing. Bonus points for being the first bee book in my experience to include batik projects. The cooking recipes are tasty and versatile and trend toward the high end (pistachio & honey chevre is simple but just about guaranteed to impress).

The author's writing style is friendly and acccessible.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Jeanne Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Quarry Books for my unbiased opinion of the book. I LOVED THIS BOOK. The colorful pictures, layout, all the information, and recipes. Petra did a great job putting it together and it is a great all things bee reference book. I will be using it for years. I will be giving this book to family and friends for gifts in the new year!

[Christine Sopko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality ideas and it wasn't overwelming. Current food info such as fermented honey garlic and femented honey cranberries. I will make honey cookies and energy bites...but if I had bees everyone of these ideas. Beehive alchemy is worth a Google.

[Whitney Stanfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great recipes and completely inspired me to get a beehive this spring!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book and the range of recipies and uses for different bee products. Definitely want to come back to it curious about some of the creams and the elderberry elixir

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beehive Alchemy is about more than just how to use the honey a hive of bees provides. There are recipes using honey and/or beeswax for a lot of things, among them are soaps, lip balm, facial toners, wax candles, furniture polish, making your own crayons, batik techniques, and, of course, there are recipes for biscuits and cakes, as well as recipes for sirups and spirits.

The recipes are well-written and the author provides information on safety (soap and candle making).

[Lisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The pictures are so real. I can't wait to make these recipes. I am eagerly waiting to cook them with my daughter.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so informative. A real good starting book for bee beginners! Love the ideas and recipes. An abundance of information. If you start reading this you will definitely want your own bee hives if you don’t have them already! Great book.

[Leanetta Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello All of my Bee Keeper Friends and Family. Have I got a great surprise review for you all today? Yes! Yes, I do because here is a wonderful book full of all the best beeswax crafts the world over. Thanks to Quarto
Publishers for allowing early access to this wonderful book.

It is full of everything like soaps infused with honey, Lip Balms, Facial Cleansers/Masks, and a whole lot more.
Looking through this book you’d never know how beeswax and honey could be used in so many different mediums. This is definitely a must have those of us trying to reduce our carbon footprints and to learn new crafts that will make great gifts, use for fundraisers, or just as a fun hobby.

In Beehive Alchemy there’s something for everyone and you’re sure to kick out every last item. So get to crafting!

[Sandy Sandmeyer]

What I really loved about Beehive Alchemy is that the book was written by someone who keeps bees and really understands the whole hive process. The first chapter is used to give a marvelous and understandable explanation of bees, beekeeping, and the products made in the hive. The second chapter is filled with recipes for making soap, body care products such as lip balm, body butters, toothpaste, and more. The third chapter is for candle making. The recipes use natural, healthy ingredients that are better than buying commercial products. There are recipes for every skill level . The recipes are step-by-step and walk you through the entire process of the project. This is definitely a book that the DIYer will want to have in their arsenal.

[Bonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you weren't interested in all things bee before - you will be by the time you finish this book. Or, even crack the spine.

Beehive Alchemy focuses on home beekeepers, those that have a few hives and want to make something out of all (or some) of the products bees give us: propolis, beeswax, honey and pollen.

Starting from scratch as a basic primer on beekeeping and then the products themselves, Beehive Alchemy makes quick work of food, soaps, salves, creams, and of course candles. Every recipe felt like it came straight from a farmer's market, and every item sounded appealing to me. My overall favorite however, and the one I'll likely start with? Lip balm.

My only complaint with this book is that the Adobe edition I was given access to for review purposes (thank you NetGalley and publisher) made it very difficult to read the text. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly recommend this book for DIY and/or bee lovers.

[Gaby F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, good honey is simply delicious and unrefined beeswax smells like heaven. That is why I picked up Beehive Alchemy by Petra Ahnert. Petra generously shares her well researched knowledge about everything that has to do with bees and how to make good use of honey, beeswax, propolis, and pollen. Of special interest to me is chapter 2 with all kinds of body care products. Petra Ahnert's detailed descriptions of the role of bee products and other ingredients in body care speak volumes of her experience in this matter. One good example is her recipe for Olive and Honey Lotion. She describes exactly the same problems I ran into when trying to make lotion with borax as an emulsifier and presents a foolproof recipe instead that produces a stable emulsion which does not separate or go bad after just a few days. This example truly sets Petra's recipes apart from so many recipes you can find online or in a lot of natural cosmetics books. There are many other good ideas in this book. Here are the five things I would like to make first: the Olive and Honey Lotion, the Liquid Soap with Honey, the Waxed Cotton Food Wraps, the Rustic Dutch Oven Bread, and the Pistachio and Honey Chevre Log. And then I might make... (I do not know yet. It is very hard to decide between all of those good choices.)