Some Beeswax Facts:
Beeswax is produced when honeybees
consume honey. It takes about 8 1/2 lbs of honey to produce one pound of
beeswax.
Honeybees collect nectar from
approximately two million flowers to make one pound of honey, so
nectar is collected from 17 million flowers to make 8 1/2 pounds of
honey to make one pound of beeswax!
Beeswax is secreted in the form of
a scale about the size of a pinhead by worker bees that are 12 to
18 days old. The worker honeybee has eight wax secreting glands
under its abdomen. It takes about 800,000 scales to make one pound of
beeswax.
The bees wax scale when first
secreted is tasteless, odorless, and almost colorless. Beeswax
obtains its "natural" color of light to golden yellow due to propolis
and pollen collected by the honeybees. The distinctive fragrance of
bee wax is obtained from the
combination of pollen and honey in the honeycomb.
Over time, bees wax will develop a
whitish coating called bloom. This is the result of softer oils rising to the surface. Rubbing the candle with a
soft cloth or warming with a hair dryer will remove candle bloom. Once
removed, bloom will again reappear on pure beeswax. Bloom has no
effect on how your bees wax candle will burn.
Burning of
beeswax candles
produces a white rounded flame, giving a wonderful warm glow with no
soot.
For proper burning of
bees wax candles, trim wick to 1/4" before burning each time. Keep burning
candles away from drafts. Keep candle wick centered.
When burning pillars, burn for about one
hour per inch in diameter. After extinguishing the candle flame and your
candle has cooled warm to the touch, gently mold candle edges inward if
needed with damp fingers.
