About Bees & Beeswax

"A honeybee colony is a superorganism of social insects working together for the benefit of all. The honeybee produces beeswax – in particular the tireless and uncomplaining worker bees that use the wax to build their honeycomb through special glands on the underside of the abdomen that secrete the wax. This emerges as a transparent liquid that the bees then chew and mould into the cells of their comb. When the wax dries it turns into a hard, white substance, though because of the presence of pollen it is often yellowish, or even red, retaining the faint smell of honey.

In olden times beeswax was involved in many aspects of life and greatly used by religious communities for the souls of the departed; for the high altars in churches. Such was the demand in medieval times that wax suppliers in their endeavour to meet the market requirements became influential and prosperous. It was the wish and law of the Church that candles, which were used on the altar in liturgical functions, be made from pure beeswax. However, because of difficulties of procuring 100% beeswax candles, the law in effect was changed by papal decree that the candle be comprised of at least 51% beeswax. It is not surprising then that traditionally beeswax was always regarded as a superior candle and was afforded only by the privileged royalty and church. Today beeswax candles are considered an affordable luxury, prized as a renewable resource and an air purifier. Here at Beeswax Creations, we endeavour not to overprice our beeswax candles as we want people to be able to afford to buy them.

So what is an air purifier and what is negative ionisation? This takes you back to your school days in the chemistry lab and charcoal experiments. Negative ions help freshen and purify the air by causing allergens such as pollen, mould spores and dust floating in the air (which have either a neutral or a positive charge) to be attracted to and stick to each other, forming “clumps (because opposite charges attract). These clumps of particles then become heavy enough so that gravity can pull them down to the floor, where they can be vacuumed up, rather than staying in suspension where they can be breathed in and cause allergic reactions. If you cannot procure a natural negative ioniser such as a waterfall, burning a beeswax candle is a simple and effective way of purifying the air that you breathe. Check it out. The dustier your home the more black debris will be deposited in the wax around the candle wick.

Over time you may notice a white powdery dust on a beeswax candle, usually when the wax is cold and exposed to air. This is called bloom and is caused by the softer oils in the wax coming to the surface. Bloom is a good indication that your beeswax is pure. It is not harmful and may be removed by buffing the candle with a nylon stocking although this does not work well with hand rolled honeycomb candles."