What was beeswax used for historically?

The five families of use

• Light: candles that burned cleanly enough for indoor and liturgical use, the largest single use in European history.
• Casting: lost-wax metalworking, behind a large share of the world's surviving ancient bronze sculpture.
• Authentication: document seals that made tampering visible, and reusable wax writing tablets.
• Protection: waxed thread, waterproofed canvas and boots, polished wood and metal, sealed jars — quantitatively the biggest use.
• Art and craft: encaustic painting, wax modelling and votives, and wax-resist dyeing such as batik.

Several of these are still current. Investment casting, cosmetics, conservation coatings, waxed cotton, polish and fine hand batik all buy beeswax today, and between them they account for more of the modern market than candles do.