Candles from Beeswax - Considering Form & Function

Because of its uniquely high melting temperature and malleability, candles from beeswax are available in a spectacularly wide array of form factors.

From tall, skinny beeswax tapered candles to short, stout beeswax pillars and even tiny beeswax tea lights, each different beeswax candle shape and style provides distinct benefits and utilities. Here's a quick rundown of factors to consider when shopping for beeswax candles. 

Beeswax Candle Burn Times 

Candles from beeswax burn much more slowly than similarly-sized candles made of paraffin or soy. This is great news when it comes to value -- beeswax candles cost a bit more, but they also last 2-3 times longer than paraffin (and they burn much cleaner!).

It also means that you should plan ahead before lighting a super wide beeswax candle. To avoid tunneling and to make sure your candle uses its fuel efficiently, we recommend burning for at least one hour per inch of candle diameter.

That means if you light a 4" diameter beeswax pillar, you're in for 4+ hours of candlelight. On the flip side, 2" pillars can sometimes drip if burned for longer than 2 hours. Something to keep in mind as you consider which beeswax candle best suits your candle-burning habits. 

If you're looking for maximum flexibility of burn time, you can't go wrong with beeswax tapers or tea lights. Their narrower shape means shorter burns won't cause them to tunnel, but their particular designs also allow for longer, drip-free burns when desired. Our pure beeswax tea lights even come as refills, with perfectly-sized glass holders, so you can get the ease of tea lights without the waste of disposable cups! 

Scented Beeswax Candles

Beeswax has a natural scent all its own -- a bit like wildflower honey. Because of that, at the level of chemistry, it can't hold as much fragrance load as waxes like coconut or soy, and the natural scent of the raw beeswax must be considered when building a scented beeswax candle. 

At Bluecorn we think it's only right to scent pure beeswax with naturally-derived essential oils and botanical extracts. In this way we develop subtle, dynamic and evolving scent profiles that honor the alchemy of bee and blossom. These scented beeswax candles are not as potent as traditional scented candles but they are wildly seductive. 

Sculpted Beeswax Candles 

Because it's fully solid at room temperature, pure beeswax can also be used to make molded candles in a virtually unlimited array of shapes, from fruit and veg to flowers and animals.

At Bluecorn we do our best to strike a balance between form and function when it comes to sculpted/ molded beeswax candles. We offer some really fun and frankly beautiful shapes, all of which burn pretty darn well (though it should be stated that these shapely candles are almost always less efficient than our more utilitarian options). 

Molded beeswax candles make fantastic gifts and produce impromptu art pieces as they burn down -- sometimes it's more about aesthetics and that's okay! Making and burning candles from beeswax is about process more than product, presence more than productivity. So go ahead and light the good candles tonight.