Beeswax Candles
What are Beeswax Candles?
Hurray for the paraffin wax that has replaced animal fat as the main ingredient in candles. However, if
you really want to spoil yourself, go for the beeswax candles which have as benefits clean, soot less,
long-lasting and natural burn. Beeswax is one of nature's fragrant, useful treasures. Beeswax was a
welcome alternative to the tallow candles, which had a rancid, smoky burn. Beeswax candles, however, were
only available to the nobility and the clergy in centuries gone by.
Bees are the nobility of the insects when it comes to
candle making and
candle making supplies. Beeswax produces a clean,
long-burning candle with a subtle honey aroma – very pleasant to your olfactory senses. The actual
beeswax used for the beeswax candles comes from the honeycomb. The aroma and color of beeswax is absorbed
from the honey, the honeycomb and residues within the honeycomb. So using beeswax is an easy way of making
scented candles. The further amazing aspect of beeswax is that there
are no two types of beeswax that are similar smelling. This is as a result of the different types of
pollen that the bees gather in their production of honey. This will then ensure that when you make use of
beeswax candles, nature will provide you with its wonderful fragrances with subtle differences every time
you light up a beeswax candle that was bought at different times.
Another amazing fact is that to produce one pound of beeswax, you actually need 60 pounds
of honey to be produced. That means that a staggering 160,000 bees need to be contributing to the
project!
Beeswax Candles "Dissected"
Paraffin candles can come in any shape. These shapes include: taper candles,
pillar candles, votive candles,
jar candles, floating candles,
scented candles, wedding candles
and unity candles. So can beeswax candles. Whatever the shape of your
beeswax candles, most of them will have cotton or cotton-paper braided
candle wicks, with the exception of votive candles, jar
candles and pillar candles which may have a metal core wick.
Beeswax candles that are made in the shape if rolled candles or tapered candles will
obviously not burn as long as the solid beeswax due to its shape. However, if you want to savor the
fragrance of your tapered candle longer, you could make the wrap connect tighter to the wick.
Furthermore, the stubs from beeswax candles can be put to many other uses.
Melting and mixing the beeswax with other ingredients can produce
such things as lip balm and make-up removers, and even furniture polish.