A product from the insect Apis Mellifica. The virgin wax (that is unprocessed) varies in colour from golden to light yellow. It may be made colourless by exposing it to the sun and to the air or chemically (bleached beeswax): in the latter case, it looses some of its characteristics that rendered the wax more useful in the artistic field in all of the historical periods, and that make it equally useful for restoration. As a binder (see encaustic), it finds use in the compositions of adhesives and consolidants and , thanks to its strong water repellent properties (common of all waxes), that protective of both works in stone and metal and, together with the resins, in the fabrication of paints for painting. Bleached wax is also used in restoration to form aqueous emulsions to support various solvents for the cleaning of painting.