Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• Cappings wax, when cool, will be a soft lemon yellow color. Wax from old
frames and bits of burr comb will be darker and will contain melted-in materi-
als such as propolis. Do not mix cappings wax and old wax.
• Wipe up fresh spills with paper towels.
• Scrape up cooled drips and dribbles with a sharpedged tool, such as a single-
edged razor blade.
• To remove small spills and the thin film that remains after wiping and scraping,
use a petroleum solvent specially made for wax removal available at most
stores that sell candles. A final rinse with hot, soapy water will finish the job.
• When you mix softened tap water with melted bees-wax, the wax and water
react, resulting in mushy wax that is unfit for anything. To avoid this problem,
don't use your tap water. Bottled water or even rain-water is preferred. If you
are melting a lot of wax and using a lot of water, you'll want to explore another
melting method—the solar wax melter.
Making Candles
Candles made from pure beeswax are unsurpassed in fragrance; they provide long,
clean, smoke-free burning; and simple beauty. Numerous topics and reference materials
on making all types of candles are available. If this is a part of beekeeping that you
enjoy, you'll want to explore more than the simple candles shown here. But these fun-
damentals for making candles provide a great place to start.
Before you begin, you'll need some supplies, notably the molds in which you will
make your candles and the wick that is the heart of every candle. Many companies sell
all you'll need, and you can find some in the beekeeping journals, on the Internet, and
in candle topics.
The wicks you'll need come in various sizes, shapes, and materials. The primary
consideration is the diameter of the wick. If it is too large, the candle will burn with too
large a flame and smoke; if it's too small, it won't burn at all. And to confuse matters,
different catalogs use different measuring systems. Most will give the size (diameter)
of candle a particular wick works best with, but some don't. Get several catalogs for
comparison before you begin.
Mold designs are infinite, so finding what you want—from elegant tapered dinner
candles to a candle shaped like an ear of corn—is fairly simple. The most popular and
most usable molds are made of polyurethane. These are split up one side so the finished
candle is easy to remove. They are held snugly together during pouring with rubber
bands so that wax doesn't leak out, and any seam that remains can be easily removed.
