Unique Bermuda Candles Have Bees To Thank

Bermuda is a one-of-a-kind setting for artists and their craft, providing those of us on the island with access to a wide variety of goods and services that are both unique and interesting, and that may be no more true than the products that come from local beekeeper Lellwell Woolridge.

The owner of Bee Lovers Beekeeping, Woolridge provides the island with unique, 100% beeswax candles, a product promises to add an antique touch to any Bermudian home in need of light.

The result is a solid beeswax candle that contains only high-grade Bermuda beeswax made by local honeybees. All of the wax used is processed in Bermuda using state of the art stainless steel equipment in order to ensure the highest quality beeswax possible.

Bee Lovers Beekeeping does not bleach or chemically filter any of their beeswax, therefore the color of the wax will vary. The brilliant golden color of the beeswax comes from bees foraging and bringing nectar and pollen into the hive which stains the beeswax.

To make their final product even more pure, Bee Lovers Beekeeping uses only 100% cotton wicks, unlike other mass produced candles that use synthetic or lead cored wicks in order to hold the wick in place during machine production.

The Company said that 100% pure beeswax candles burn brighter and last 2 to 5 times longer than other waxes or wax combinations. Beeswax also burns without dripping if kept from draft and if the candle is of a consistent shape, relative to the size of the wick.

Bee Lovers Beekeeping’s 100% pure beeswax candles will, over time, produce a whitish deposit on the outside; this is referred to as “bloom” and is one way to ensure that you’re burning a high quality 100% pure beeswax candle. These deposits are caused by natural minerals rising to the surface of the candle.

All of these fascinating details on 100% pure beeswax candles does beg the question, though, of how exactly Woolridge is able to collect enough beeswax to get the job done?

“After bees have fanned the moisture out of the nectar, among other things, and they are happy enough with it to call it honey, they will put a wax cap on the end of the comb to seal it up,” Woolridge said.

“So when we harvest the honey from our hives in late November, the cappings must first be removed before the frame with the honey comb can go into our extractor to remove the honey. The cappings, a mixture of honey, beeswax & so-called slum-gum, are then put into a machine that separates the three. At this time the beeswax is put into large 80 lb. blocks and later re-melted, filtered and formed into 1 pound or 2 pound blocks to be used to make candles.”

Bee Lovers Beekeeping candles are available for sale at the Art Centre in Dockyard, and Mr Woolridge can be contacted at 236-8687.

#Artists #Bees #Insects

Category: All, Environment