Beeswax Candles 101: What Exactly Is Beeswax, and Why Is It So Special?
If you’ve ever lit a beeswax candle, you may have noticed that it feels a little different from other candles. There’s the warm, natural glow. The beautiful way the flame burns. The subtle character of the wax itself. And there’s something about beeswax that makes a candle feel timeless. Beeswax burns on the same spectrum of light as a fire allowing all the senses to relax.
But what exactly is beeswax—and what makes it such a special candle wax?
At Cheeky Bee Candle Company, we work with 100% pure beeswax, and we think this natural material deserves to be understood and appreciated.
So, welcome to Beeswax Candles 101.
Let’s talk about what beeswax has to offer and why pure beeswax is so important in a candle.
What Is Beeswax?
Beeswax is a natural wax produced by honeybees.
Honeybees create beeswax to build the honeycomb where they raise their young and store honey. Worker bees produce tiny flakes of wax, which they then shape and work together to create the familiar honeycomb structure. It is an extraordinary natural process—and one of the many reasons we have such tremendous respect for bees. When beeswax is carefully collected, cleaned and filtered, it becomes a beautiful natural material that can be used to make candles.
Why Is Beeswax So Wonderful for Candles?
Beeswax has been used for candles for centuries. Long before modern candle waxes became common, beeswax was prized for its beautiful burning qualities. There are several natural waxes available. There is soy wax, veggie wax and beeswax. Soy wax and veggie wax are natural alternatives but due to their soft nature you need to add hardeners, scents and colour dye in order to be able to burn them in a candle form. This is where pure beeswax stands above the rest.
One of the things we love most about beeswax is its long burn time. A well-made beeswax candle burns slowly, allowing you to enjoy your candle for longer. Our candles feature an all natural plant fibre wick that has been rolled to match the proper width of your candle allowing for a perfect burn every time.
Beeswax also has a naturally warm colour and a subtle honey-like aroma. Its natural character is part of what makes it so appealing. There’s no need to overwhelm it with fragrance or colours. Sometimes natural is simply beautiful on its own.
Our Handmade Ivory Beeswax Candles
Our handmade ivory beeswax candles are something truly special at Cheeky Bee. Through a triple-filtering process, we carefully filter our 100% pure beeswax to bring it back toward its natural state—colourless and naturally odourless.
There are no bleaches, no dyes and no added fragrance.
It is still exactly what we love about beeswax: a 100% pure beeswax candle, simply in its most neutral, natural form. The result is a beautiful ivory candle that allows you to enjoy the warmth and glow of beeswax without the aroma. Sometimes, that is exactly what people are looking for.
Our ivory candles are wonderful for weddings, holidays, dinner parties, celebrations and special occasions, where you may want the beauty and atmosphere of candlelight without competing scents. But they’re also perfect for everyday candle lovers.
We know that scented candles aren’t for everyone. Some people simply prefer a clean, unscented candle. Others have become overwhelmed by the sheer number of scented products around them and miss being able to enjoy candlelight without having another fragrance filling the room. Our handmade ivory beeswax candles offer that opportunity.
You can enjoy candles again—without all the aroma.
Just 100% pure beeswax, carefully triple-filtered and handmade into a beautiful ivory candle.
The Beauty of a Slow Burn
One of the pleasures of a beeswax candle is taking the time to enjoy it. Unlike the rush of everyday life, a candle asks you to slow down.
- Light it while you’re having dinner.
- Light one while you’re reading.
- Light a few when friends come over.
- Or light one simply because you want to make an ordinary evening feel a little more special.
There is something wonderful about watching a candle slowly burn and allowing yourself to enjoy the moment. With proper wick care and good burning habits, you can get a wonderfully long life from your beeswax candle.
The Cheeky Bee Difference: Our Hand-Rolled Wicks
The quality of the beeswax is only part of what makes a great candle.
At Cheeky Bee, we also pay very close attention to the wick. Our wicks are hand-rolled from all-natural plant fibre, and each wick is carefully rolled to the proper size for the particular candle it will be used in.
Why does that matter?
Because the wick needs to work in harmony with the size and shape of the candle. We carefully size our wicks so that the flame can reach the proper edge of each candle as it burns. This allows the wax to melt evenly all the way to the edge rather than leaving a thick wall of unused wax around the outside. As the candle burns down, you can fold the softened sides of the beeswax inward, keeping the candle level as you continue to burn it.
This means you can use much more of the candle instead of having a significant amount of beeswax left behind. It’s a simple detail, but it makes a big difference. Our hand-rolled, natural-fibre wicks, combined with our 100% pure beeswax and careful candle-making process, are a big part of why our beeswax candles have such wonderfully extended burn times.
We don’t just make a candle and put a wick in it. We consider the relationship between the wax, the wick, the size and shape of the candle, and the way the candle will actually be used. That attention to detail is part of what makes a Cheeky Bee candle a Cheeky Bee candle.
And it’s another reason we believe that handmade really does matter.
How to Get the Most From Your Beeswax Candle
A beautiful candle deserves a little care.
To help your Cheeky Bee beeswax candle burn beautifully:
Trim your wick before lighting.
Keeping the wick at the appropriate length helps encourage a controlled, steady flame. We suggest keeping the wick at a 1/4 inch. As you get more comfortable with your candle you may also trim while burning. As the flame grows you can easily ,with a pair of sharp scissors , trim off the top of the flame while keeping the lower portion lit. Practice makes perfect here!
Allow your candle to burn properly.
Especially on the first burn, give your candle enough time to develop an even melt pool across the surface. This helps establish a good burning pattern. As the pool of wax reaches the edge the walls of the candle become soft and the flame starts to grow. The flame is your indicator that it is time to ‘ hug your candle’ . Yes, definitely the best part of burning a Cheeky Bee candle. By using your thumbs to gently push the walls of the candle towards the center you do two things. One, you are keeping your candle flat as it burns and secondly you are adding more wax to the pool allowing the flame to come down and burn with no flickering. If you keep your candle out of a draft you will have the longest lasting , cleanest burning candle on earth.
Keep your candle within sight while it is burning.
Never leave a burning candle unattended, and always keep candles away from children, pets and anything that can catch fire.
A little care can make a big difference.
Why We Love Beeswax
There are many candle choices available today, but there is something timeless about beeswax. It is natural. It is beautiful. It burns slowly and it connects us to something much older than modern candle making—the remarkable work of honeybees and the natural world around us.
That’s what keeps us coming back to beeswax. We are hoping to share the amazing qualities of beeswax and our candles
At Cheeky Bee Candle Company, we’re proud to make candles using 100% pure beeswax. From our naturally beautiful beeswax candles to our handmade ivory candles, we believe in letting the quality of the wax speak for itself.
We hope that when you light a Cheeky Bee candle, you don’t just see a flame. We hope you notice the craftsmanship, appreciate the natural material, and take a moment to enjoy the simple pleasure of candlelight.
A Little More Light, Naturally
That’s what Beeswax 101 is all about. Understanding what’s behind the candle can make you appreciate it even more.
And this is only the beginning.
In our next blog, we’ll take a closer look at picking the right size beeswax candle for your burning lifestyle.
Until then, light a candle, slow down for a moment, and enjoy a little more light—naturally.
— The Cheeky Bee Candle Company Team 🐝🕯️