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Who doesn’t love bees? They are industrious, determined, and cooperative. They fertilize thousands of flowers via pollination, and with said pollination, they collect and store the nectar from flowers. The nectar then breaks down into sugars and evaporates into the delectable and gooey honey we all know and love. As they eat honey, bees shed wax and use this wax to form combs. We harvest combs to make the traditional blocks of beeswax we use in every day life. Pretty efficient little buggers, aren’t they?
Beeswax can be used in a number of ways. I’ve made beeswax candles and lip balm and been very pleased with the products. I buy beeswax at a local store called Redmond Farms that stocks local beeswax without any packaging. Unfortunately, I tried to buy more there recently with no such luck. Beeswax sans wrapping is typically available at most farmers’ markets as well, so not to worry!
Homemade candles are a great gift for friends and family. I used vintage amber glass bottles and wide mouth mason jars for my candles. You can use metal wick clips to keep the wick in place or just pour slowly while keeping the wick centered. I bought a large wheel of wick at Michaels that will last for an ungodly number of candles. Once the wicks are ready, melt one pound of beeswax in a double boiler. Once melted, stir in ½ cup of coconut oil. Immediately pour into containers. Let set over a few hours. This recipe makes 3 half pint jar candles.
A word of wisdom: if you don’t want your wife to divorce you, make sure you immediately rinse out the hot pot with scalding water to clean out the beeswax. If you don’t, you will end up reheating and dumping a pot of water over and over and over until only the smallest residue of wax is left. Just trust me!