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Many of us are trying to avoid the use of plastic wherever we can. The kitchen is a good place to start: wax wraps are an excellent alternative to cover left-over food in the fridge, wrap sandwiches, or keep a loaf of bread fresh. Wax wraps on a bowl of sour dough or kefir grain infused milk provide ideal condition for fermentation.
That’s the theory at least. In practice most wraps are stiff, can’t be fitted around the container neatly, they develop cracks and after some use the wax peels off.
The Indian XL rock bees to the rescue
Apis dorsata, is an Asian relative of our European honey bee, but the size of a hornet and much more aggressive. For good reasons, ‘rock bees’ live their life exposed to the elements. The huge combs they build are easy to spot, they are up to 1.5m wide and hang from branches in tall trees or cliffs. Because the comb not only has to support the weight of thousands of these large bees, but also withstand high winds and monsoon rains, the tensile strength of the wax is significantly higher than that of wax from European honey bees. And that’s what makes the Diversity Honey wax wraps so unique: they are pliable and keep that elasticity, and because they are slightly sticky they stay in place, they can be easily cleaned with warm water and re-used for up to a year.
Hoopoe on a Hill
The wraps are produced by the women’s co-operative ‘Hoopoe on a Hill’ in the Western Ghats, a coastal mountain range in India, and one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
The women work in a simple, two story building with a splendid view across terraced vegetable fields and fruit orchards all the way to the town of Kodaikanal on the other side of the valley.
Sheila is one of the eight Hoopoe women and oblivious of the scenic view. She does not lift her eyes from the work space underneath the window as she is carefully ironing the pieces of organic cotton cloth her colleagues have cut to the required size. Rani and Nimi’s job is to apply the wax. “We have done endless trials until we found the right mix”, says Nishita Vasant, one of the two Hoopoe on a Hill founders.
The wax has to be filtered several times, then it is mixed with the resin and slowly heated. It takes about half an hour and constant and repeated stirring until the mix has the consistency and colour of treacle. Rani places one of the freshly ironed cotton pieces on a baking tray, dips a broad brush into the wax mixture and applies it evenly in a thin layer. The cloth is dried for a few minutes in an oven, then Rani carefully lifts it off the tray with two metal clips, gently moves it back and forth to cool it somewhat and then attaches it to a washing line. There the freshly waxed cloths stay for a fortnight until they are properly ‘cured’.
“When will we get new orders?”
Nishita Vasant and Priya Mani founded Hoopoe on a Hill in 2016. From their work with different non-governmental organisations they knew that the only way to help indigenous groups and women in particular is to provide them with an independent means of income.
To find a job in Kodaikanal shouldn’t be a problem, at an elevation of 2,000m the town has a pleasant climate and is popular with tourists. But to work in one of the many hotels, restaurants or shops one has to either live in the town itself, or have the means to get there. None of the women who work for Hoopoe on a Hill have a motorbike, let alone a car. The bus runs only once a day. The women have few options but to take an ill paid, seasonal agricultural job – or get lucky and work for Hoopoe.
Already, the money the women have earned has made a difference to their lives and that of their families: Rani has paid back a loan her husband took out in her name but without her knowledge. Sheila’s father is a fruit seller, the business is not going well, but now she is able to support her parents financially. Nimi could finally buy a TV. Shivaka bought a cow and earns additional money by selling the milk. And Shobna has opened a savings account: in today’s India a good education costs money and she is planning ahead: her son is eight, her daughter two. Once they are grown up, Shobna wants them to be able to choose any profession and go to university if that’s what they want.
But to keep all these projects going, the women need orders that allow them to continue producing and selling wax wraps.
There is art in the art of making wax wraps
The conversation flows easily and it is obvious that the women not only work well together, they also have a lot of fun. They trust each other, even personal problems are discussed quite openly, and with Nishita’s and Priya’s careful and sensitive comments solutions are found. Through their work at Hoopoe the women gain more than a regular income, they have become self-confident and more independent.
And they are proud to produce such good and beautiful wax wraps. Diversity Honeys has commissioned Yunus Kimani, professor at an Indian art college, to design some of the wraps. All of the women love the Jungle Book design, and the thought that in a far-away country kids go to school or kindergarten every day, carrying their lunch in one of the Hoopoe wax wraps, makes them happy.
The A. dorsata wax wraps are available here: https://tinyurl.com/ypzbx5kk
More information on the wax collectors can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/m8bfz7rf
