Pure Canadian Beeswax
Two ingredients, and nothing else
Beeswax from Canadian beekeepers, and a cotton wick. This page explains exactly what that means, because "beeswax candle" is a phrase the industry uses loosely and you deserve to know what you are buying.
What pure means here
Pure means the wax is beeswax. Nothing is added to bulk it out, imitate it, or cover it up.
No paraffin. No soy or blended wax. No fillers or hardeners. No dye, ever. Some candles sold as beeswax are blends, where beeswax is a share of the wax and something cheaper makes up the rest. Ours are not.
The colour you see is the wax's own, and so is the faint honey note. Neither is added.
Cappings wax, and why it matters
Our wax is mostly cappings wax. When bees fill a honey cell they seal it with a fresh wax capping, and that capping is cut away during honey extraction. It is young wax, made for one job and collected in the ordinary course of taking honey.
It is the kind of beeswax we prefer to work with, and it is why our candles are gold without anything being done to them.
Where it comes from
Our beeswax comes from Canadian beekeepers, mostly across Alberta and British Columbia. Never an importer, never an out-of-country substitute, and we are not looking for a cheaper country to buy from.
Our primary supplier is Poelman Apiaries of Fort Macleod, Alberta: family owned and operated, more than thirty years in the business, and supplying us for the past ten. They work with wax from their own Southern Alberta hives and from other responsible beekeepers across Canada, and they filter and refine it with no additives, preservatives or chemicals before it reaches us.
We can name our supplier. Most candle brands cannot.
Why we know what good wax looks like
Ron Glave, who owns Beeswax Works, has kept bees commercially since 2013 and founded BeeKind Honey Bees in 2019 before taking on this business.
Years in the field teach you what good cappings wax looks like, how a poor season shows up in a batch, which beekeepers are meticulous, and why wax from one apiary behaves differently in a mould than wax from another. We do not buy the cheapest wax available. We buy the wax we would burn at home.
Why the gold shifts a little
Beeswax carries whatever the bees were working that season. When the available forage in a harvest changes, the hue of the wax changes with it, sometimes deeper, sometimes lighter.
We work with a single bulk supplier precisely so that variation stays narrow and our candles stay dependable from one order to the next. But we will not bleach it flat to make every candle identical. A small shift in the gold is the honest signature of a natural product, and we would rather you knew what it was than wondered.
The same goes for the pale film you may see on an older candle. That is bloom, the wax's own patina rising to the surface, and it is a mark of pure beeswax rather than a fault. We are rather pleased to see it. Candle Care has more on it.
How beeswax burns
Pure beeswax burns clean and burns slowly, down and steady, rather than pooling and drowning its own wick. The reason is its melting point, the highest of the common candle waxes: it takes more heat to turn to liquid and gives that heat up more slowly, so the candle burns down at a slower rate. That is inherent to the wax, not something added to it, and not something a softer wax can be adjusted to match. Kept trimmed, beeswax also gives very little smoke or soot. Burn times vary by shape and size, so you will find an estimate on each candle's own page.
Getting the full value out of it comes down to four small habits: a long first burn, a wick trimmed to a quarter inch every time, still air, and never leaving a flame unattended. Candle Care walks through all four, and covers what to do when something goes wrong.
Made here, by hand
Every candle is made in our studio in Revelstoke, British Columbia. We dip the tapers, pour the pillars, set the tea lights and votives, and pack the boxes. We do not buy finished candles and put our name on them.
We make to order rather than to a warehouse, so the candle that reaches you was poured recently, by hand, by us.
Find your candle
Start with the shape that suits the room.
- Hand Dipped Tapers — the supper table, holders, long evenings
- Hand Poured Pillars — the longest burn, best on a tray
- Tea Lights & Votives — many small lights, or a drawer kept ready
- Decorated Candles — shaped and carved pieces
- Seasonal Candles — made for the time of year
- Simply Beeswax — beeswax on its own, undecorated
Pure ~ Simple ~ Light