Sweet Dee

Thanks, TallTayl. Well I guess I'd better start looking into pillar moulds and have a crack at that!

Thanks for the info guys. I started looking at the similar threads bit after posting this and saw all the info on beeswax not being suitable for containers. Bugger! Not sure why I didn't come across this info while doing internet searches and seems like there are plenty of people claiming to sell 100% pure beeswax candles in glass jars etc on places like etsy. Ah well, back to the drawing board. I like container candles and would still like to try them with at least some beeswax. Is blending the beeswax with a bit of vegetable oil a viable option? If so, what sort of ratio would make a safe container candle?

You are most welcome to your opinion beekeeper_sd. I am not sure of the laws in the US, but in my opinion any chemical used in the hive regardless of where it is will end up spread throughout the hive (bees of course move from one box to another) and stored in the wax and honey. Same goes for using foundation, any chemicals in that will end up, at least in part, in any wax that comes from that hive and you certainly can't claim to isolate the cappings 100% from the rest of the foundation when removing it. Also, any chemicals that the bees come into contact with while foraging will likely end up in the wax. So, I personally won't use beeswax or any hive product that doesn't come from natural comb or comes from hives that are treated or hives that are left in areas where the bees are likely to come in contact with a lot of chemicals while foraging. I would also argue that the widespread use of chemicals in commercial beekeeping is one of the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder so on an ethical level I wouldn't use beeswax that supports that type of beekeeping. Again, just my opinion.

whoops, just realised I put this in the vegetable wax section rather than the general candle discussion section

Hi Karen! Your best bet would be to buy directly from a small scale beekeeper who uses natural comb. Most commercial beekeepers use "foundation" wax in their hives. This is basically beeswax that has been pressed into a flat sheet and inserted into frames that are then put into the hive. Foundation wax tends to have a lot of chemical and pesticide residue in it, and it gets recycled through the beekeeping system (used by the beekeeper, the beeswax may then be sold back to foundation manufacturers etc) and it will accumulate more and more chemicals the older it gets. I think here in Australia a lot of beeswax that goes into making foundation is imported from places like China and you can bet it's riddled with nasties! Unless it's certified organic, most beeswax that is sold commercially comes from beekeepers who use foundation wax and they will also likely be using a whole heap of antibiotics and miticides on their hives to keep diseases under control (all of which will get stored in both wax and honey). With natural comb the beekeeper just lets the bees build wax from scratch (it's actually bee sweat!) as they would in the wild, this means it is a lot more "pure" and will have far less in the way of chemicals in it. Beekeepers who opt for natural comb are most likely also going to have "treatment free" hives and won't be using synthetic chemicals. Beeswax comes in a huge variety of colours, everything from almost white right though to dark brown, depending on how old it is and what plants the bees have been foraging on. As a general rule, if it's quite light in colour (and not bleached) it's probably relatively new (although new comb may be darker if the bees have been visiting certain types of plants). Old wax is usually quite dark in colour. A good place to potentially find US beekeepers selling good quality beeswax that comes from natural comb and treatment free hives is the biobees forum http://www.biobees.com/forum. There is a section on bee products on there. Hope that helps a bit! Let me know if you have any more questions at all.

Hi everyone, I'm new here - glad I found this place it's very useful! I'm a beekeeper and have just started experimenting with beeswax products to sell over the last couple of months, including container candles. Because I'm going to sell them I want to make sure they're really good quality. So, I have a few newbie questions… How deep should the pool of liquid wax be (roughly) in a beeswax container candle before the candle is put out and left to solidify before burning again? Do people recommend doing two pours for beeswax container candles? (I have tried but because beeswax shrinks so much it often results in wax from the second pour dripping down the side of the first pour in places, giving a blotchy appearance that I'm not so keen on). Is it possible to get 100% pure beeswax to adhere to the side of glass containers without using any sort of chemicals? (I've tried heating the container before pouting but the wax always shrinks away from the sides). Any help would be hugely appreciated! If anyone has questions about beeswax please feel free to ask (I may be able to help with tips on how to find stuff that is higher quality, less likely to have lots of pesticide residue etc…) Thanks! Emily