beautiful and sophisticated table setting with pink flowers and natural color beeswax pillar candles and fluted sphere candles

What are some Myths About Beeswax Candles?

beeswax candles made in canadaThis is my tenth year of working with Honey Candles and in that time there are a few myths about beeswax candles that I have run into. Here are some of the most common:

Beeswax candles are crude

If you have only seen the beeswax candles that are found in the local farmer’s market you may have only seen hand dipped beeswax candles made by the local beekeeper. Not surprisingly, the primary focus of most beekeepers is the honey and pollination from their beekeeping enterprise. The beeswax is a by-product. They may not have a very sophisticated system of filtering the beeswax. Beeswax candles made from well filtered clean beeswax, in an organized workplace in superior molds are not crude in any way. They also burn well. It is important that wicks are tested and retested to make sure you have the right wick for the specific size of candle. The photo shows a nice example of how beautiful and sophisticated beeswax candles made by Honey Candles can be!

Beeswax candles are easy to make

If you buy some beeswax sheets and roll up a wick in it that is pretty simple. It is easy. There is no guarantee as to how good the burn is going to be and it would take some trial and error to be sure that you have a wick that burns well. If you want to do a project with your children there is nothing wrong with that. We do not work with beeswax sheets and we do not sell them. We only make molded beeswax candles in molds that we are confident in. Our pillar and votive molds are designed to ensure that your wick is always centered and will burn evenly. We only hand dip our beeswax birthday candles. We find dipped candles are not always even and if you buy a hand dipped brand that fits your candle holders today it may be the next time you buy that brand you may have to shave off some of the base or if it was snug this time next time it may be loose. Molded candlesticks ensure that a brand and the particular type of candle is always consistent in size – this is true for Honey Candles® candlesticks.

Beeswax candles is an industry that is cruel to bees

We have met many beekeepers in our time as beeswax candle makers. What we have noticed is beekeepers love their bees. They do their best to not harm or hurt them. Many of the vegetables that vegans highly regard are available to us only because honey bees have pollinated flowers that later produced healthy, tasty food for us. By supporting beekeepers through the purchase of honey and beeswax candles we are supporting the most important function of honey bees – pollination. It is in the best interest of the beekeeper to keep the bees healthy and well. Alternatively, soy wax that is often heralded as a ‘vegan’ candle choice is produced most often from GMO soy in fields where heavy equipment works the soil with little regard for small living creatures – including honey bees.

There you have it – my take on the myths about beeswax candles! Did I cover it?

Photo by Marlie Marchewka

Published By Pat Cattermole

1 comment

Thank you for this interesting article! Glad to hear beeswax candles not cruel to bees. Live the beautiful burn they create !

Camille

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