Natural waxes are obtained from animal, vegetable and mineral sources. Beeswax is the most common of natural waxes. It is a secretion of the glands on the abdomen of the ‘worker’ bee, primarily of the domestic species (Apis mellifica), and is made ductile through chewing and impregnation of saliva by the insect. The colour of beeswax can vary, depending on the original source of the pollen. Heather, which has white pollen, produces a wax that has little colour, but sainfoin pollen, being yellow, produces an ochre-yellow wax. African beeswax is dark in colour, and Turkish beeswax is bright red.