Starting with beeswax

[xaipre]

Hello, I am new here. Just spent about the last day straight poking around these forums. I've learned so much!

But I thought it was time to ask my first question...

My Father in law has a honeybee hobby. After he retires from the police force next year I was thinking about going into business with him, turning his honey hobby into a small business. He already extracts honey and jars it in the raw form (which is absolutely awesome honey!) so I am hoping to acquire organic certification for it, perhaps also biodiverse certification. In addition to honey I have been exploring value added honey based products using honeybee by-products. Keeping with the raw honey organic/biodiverse slant I naturally thought of 100% natural beeswax candles (as well as soaps, but right now I am concentrating on candles, one thing at a time). I don't consider myself to be a very "crafty" person (gluing ribbons around milk lids in an effort to make christmas ornaments just about puts me in the looney bin) but candles I think I can do.

So my question is this. I want to start experimenting with making candles now, so that within the year or two when the business starts I have some recipes and experience already. I know everyone here recommends getting a starter kit for beginners, but I have not found any yet which include beeswax. I am wondering if it would be a good idea to start off with simple paraffin first, then order some beeswax later. But as I understand it, these two have very different properties, so I don't know if it will be worth my time or money to start making candles using products which won't be a part of my business anyways. But beeswax is so expensive to buy (my father in law is in europe, I am in NY, so I can't experiment with his current beeswax), and I am still in school and on a tight budget.

I also want to experiment with hemp candlewicks. The environmentally-friendly niche I'm going for values hemp over regular cotton, and I have yet to find any cotton wicks which are graded 100% organic. I have only found one supplier so far for hemp wicks, Village Craft & Candle, based in Canada. They offer three sizes of hemp wicks, small medium and large (http://villagecraftandcandle.com/categories.asp?cID=18). Again, I'm tempted to just start making candles with regular wicks, but I would also like to learn how to work with the hemp that I eventually want to have in my business inventory. Does anyone have any experience with Village Craft & Candle? Will there be any extra taxes on things shipped from Canada to the US?

I have started just making a wishlist on peak of some beeswax, thermometers, and pillar molds. My biggest hope right now is to just test and maybe give some candles away as Christmas presents to family in return for some feedback. That's why I would like to actually start with the beeswax and hemp product that I am hoping that they will buy from me later. Just want to make sure that its worth it.

Oh, I am not looking to make a killing off candles, just a little something to make gift baskets with along with the honey and soap (eventually!). And the business will likely be based in Europe somewhere, probably the UK.

Any suggestions or suggested shopping list would be very helpful.

[Candybee]

Have you tried contacting your local apiary association? You might find some other beekeeps that are already doing what you want to try. Just a thought.

[Vicky_CO]

Welcome to our world it will drive you nuts, make you cry, pull your hair out and just in general go slowly insane but you won't be alone.

Now for my advice yes BW is a different animal but starting with paraffin would not be a waste of time it would give you a better chance of success your first time out and give you some real experience before you ventured in to the world of BW candles.

[suzanneg]

yea what Vicky said!!!!!!!!!!! Get a candle kit cause you will need to learn the BASICS of candle making anyway! it doesn't make a difference on what wax you want to start with! HTH plus you will need to know how to test test and test and that experience is one of the most important task of candle making.

[Henryk]

Well, personally, if you end goal is to make BW candles I would just start there. JMO. But only if you DO intend to keep at it. If it is just a thought you may want to do candles, then start with kits.

If you search for beeswax here on the board you will find a lot of good info (there isn't much published out there that I found).

Regarding hemp wicks - you can get them from www.bittercreek.net , though I think square braids seem to work the best for BW.

Investing in good rubber molds was the best thing I ever did for BW candles - though they are expensive! Start small - see if you like it - then you can purchase additional supplies.

[Violetsexoticcandles]

I played with beeswax last year. I got two 5 lb blocks of it; it was strained, a light brown in color.... It's nearly impossible to work with in block-form... I had to take a hammer to it, got beeswax all over my kitchen tile, then resorted to melting it in a melting pot until I had enough wax to use, taking tongs to take out the excess wax that was still hard, splashing it all over the place, etc (it does not clean up easily, by the way!)... I liked the beeswax for its long-lasting qualities as far as burning goes, but the mess... oh the mess!

And a lot of times, beeswax messes with fragrances. I did happen to like how it incorporated with my rose scent, but it nearly masked others.

I ended up getting pastilles, and rarely work with straight beeswax now. I like adding it to soy though- especially tarts and votives. When it's bleached, I've found that it is easier to work with, as well.

There are a lot of shops that carry beeswax tapers, though. They don't need to be scented.... just colored. They look rather nice. I'd start there! If I had time and wanted to deal with the mess, I'd do it.

[ChrisR]

If you eventually want to make beeswax candles, stick with that goal and don't do paraffin or even soy. www.candlewic.com has about the best priced beeswax pastilles and aluminum pillar molds. http://stores.ebay.com/Honey-Glow-Farm_Bulk-Beeswax on Ebay has great bulk beeswax in blocks and the shipping is good also. I'm in Western NY.

http://www.mannlakeltd.com/catalog/page105.html has the best taper & silicone molds!! http://www.betterbee.com/departments2.asp?dept=160&bot=155 has a wicking needle you can't live without for wicking silicone/rubber molds, especially the taper molds.

Hemp wicks do not work with beeswax (been there, done that), plus they mushroom TERRIBLE, so don't even go there. Square braid wicking is the best. I personally use #2/0 for tapers, #4 or #5 in my 3" pillars and LX16 for my votives, but that depends on the particular batch of beeswax (cause every batch really can be different viscosity).

This should get you started......have fun!!!

[Vicky_CO]

If you want to get BW in pastilles this is the place to go http://www.soaperschoice.com/cgi-soaperschoice/Web_store/web_store.cgi?query_price_low_range=0&cart_id=1464120_5778

they have high quality BW and very good prices.

[xaipre]

Thanks for all the quick replies and great advice. I have been on other "business" forums (i sell old textbooks on amazon) where people are quite less than nice on giving any advice.

As much as I would love to play around with colors and fragrance, I should keep it basic I guess. Simple beeswax pillars for now for me! That will be cheaper at first too.

Thanks for all the links to suppliers. Now I have to go buy some stuff. :tiptoe:

Once I get the basic melting, molding, burning process down I'll experiment with some color and fragrance. I hadn't thought of rose scent. I was thinking more along the lines of kitchen-ish scents, like vanilla, or strawberry. I'll see how it turns out and let you all know! But yeah, I have been looking at my local library at books, and I can't find much specifically on beeswax. Guess it's mostly trial and error for me!

[Stella1952]

Hemp wicks do not work with beeswax (been there, done that), plus they mushroom TERRIBLE

We tried hemp wicks, too, with the same results.

Much success on your endeavors!

[xaipre]

We tried hemp wicks, too, with the same results.

Much success on your endeavors!

Does hemp burn badly because it is not braided the way cotton wicks are?

Has anyone had good luck with hemp cored wicks? (Hate to get coy, but having hemp in the candle description might give me an edge in the market I am going for, even if it is just a little bit).

Also I was looking at this beeswax candle maker http://www.cheekybee.com/beauty.html which claims to have an "all natural plant fibre wick". It seems to me that cotton qualifies as an all natural plant fiber, but was wondering if anyone had any idea what else this could be (if it's not hemp, I suppose it could be hemp and they don't say that in order to have an easier time getting wholesale order in the US). I have heard of using the vegetable string cores of some plants as wicks, at least, they were used as wicks before the cotton wick was invented for mass production, but it is really hard to tell from the pics if these candles are anything like that.

[Pam W]

When you're ready for FOs, I found Cucumber Melon smells nice in BW. Also, you might think about making some lotions bars - they take aprox 30% BW in the formula.

[ChrisR]

Square braid wicks are cotton (natural) and burn hotter than the hemp. Hemp wicks are one of the coolest burning wicks and just do not cut it in any beeswax candles. Trust me when I say I tried ALL the hemp sizes when I started making beeswax candles several years ago, cause I really wanted them to work. Even the 60048, largest hemp size, wouldn't work, not even in my tapers, the flames would pretty much die right out. Forget about wicking a pillar candle with hemp, there isn't a size big enough!!