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The Story of Bee Hive Candles
Bee Hive Candles was started in the winter of 2000 after taking the step from hobby candle maker to professional candle maker. Starting in 1988 I was a summertime bee keeper for Wilmer Honey Farms in northern Minnesota. Knowing just how exceptional beeswax is and having a genuine interest in candles, my husband and I experimented for years making different types of beeswax candles both for our personal use and as gifts for family and friends.
Thus began Bee Hive Candles, initially a very small business run out of our home, starting with hand made molds and using our stove and double boiler to melt our beeswax. We still consider our company a small business but we have grown over the years, from our kitchen, to a spare room, to a garage, to a small workshop, and now a large fully dedicated workshop. Our product line has also grown significantly; we offer more products than ever and will continue to grow our product base to meet the needs of our clients. Our very first products were beeswax candles, and while that will always be our main focus, we have included other hand made all natural, renewable products.
Jennifer Wesolowski
Founder, President
Our company is growing, but our dedication to making the world's best beeswax candles while offering outstanding customer service continues to run strong.
Why Choose Bee Hive Candles Beeswax Candles
It's important to note that not all beeswax candles are created equally. Some candles labeled as a beeswax candle do not contain 100% beeswax. Often imitators label their candle beeswax to fool consumers, when in reality their candles contain mostly paraffin and as little as 5% beeswax. Burning a candle that is only partially beeswax is identical to burning a candle with no beeswax; you get all the negative burning reasons of a paraffin candle with none of the natural benefits given off by beeswax. All of our candles are 100% pure beeswax.
Our beeswax is gathered from some of the best bee keepers in the United States. We demand superior quality beeswax, with very little debris, naturally light in color with a moderate honey scent. While most of our beeswax comes from bee keepers local to northern Washington State we do get part of our beeswax from other states such as Minnesota and Montana. We know all of our bee keepers personally, which helps us guarantee superior quality beeswax. We do not import any of our beeswax from other countries or use blended beeswax of any type.
Our beeswax comes only from the light capping wax gathered from the honey extraction process. Our expert bee keepers know precisely how to render beeswax so that the beeswax is extremely clean. We always lightly filter our beeswax using natural and safe materials such as cotton or nylon. This helps to remove any tiny particles in the beeswax that may clog the wick while still retaining all of the natural beauty found in the beeswax. This yields the best scent and color ratio to make a truly inspiring beeswax candle.
At Bee Hive Candles we take great care and pride as we pour and roll every single beeswax candle by hand. We use no mold release, sealers, or other additives - just pure 100% beeswax. We wholeheartedly believe we can offer you the best beeswax candle by making them by hand with the years of professional quality care that goes into making them. We don't simply pop the candles from the molds - we clean the wicks, level the bottoms, and expertly hand roll each candle to make a beautifully smooth exterior surface that lets the beeswax shine like no other candle.
The wicks we use are lead free 100% cotton wicking. Luckily there are other natural wick materials available, such as hemp or paper, though we've found cotton works best when burning beeswax. Beware of lead or other metal based wick cores found in lower quality candles. Our wicks are square braided cotton and have been selected for each candle to provide a bright flame and optimum wax pool to prevent tunneling.
Our Commitment to our Clients
We use the word client rather than customer as it makes a distinction that we honestly want to create a relationship with those that choose to purchase our beeswax candles and other natural products, and not just a quick one-time sale.
Our Commitment to the World
We have always strived to be environmentally conscious. Not because it is becoming the "in thing" to be (which is a great step in the right direction) but because we've always held the values that come along with taking care of our environment and being responsible with our surroundings.
We keep our labeling and packaging material to a minimum not only to keep costs low but to keep any potential waste down. Most candles are labeled only with a paper label. We do not shrink wrap our candles. Instead we wrap them in Kraft paper to protect them during shipping to reduce wasted plastic.
We buy only biodegradable packing peanuts. If you happen to find other types of peanuts it's just us reusing them from other orders we've received, please do the same if you can. The shipping boxes we use are reusable or recyclable. We also try to reuse any boxes we receive, which is sometimes why the box you get may be from Amazon or elsewhere. We kindly ask you to continue the reuse cycle and either reuse the boxes and packaging materials or simply recycle them. It does make a difference.
Our workshop was built with the environment in mind too. We practiced techniques to minimize any waste products and used materials that offer great heating, cooling, and electrical savings. All of our lighting is high efficiency T8 fluorescent bulbs. We even heat the building with propane rather than electricity. Our goal is to have the building running solely off of natural power - such as a combination of solar and wind power.
We feel it's important to give something back, to the community and other individuals and organizations that are less fortunate or in need of help. We gladly make monetary donations to charities around the country, even worldwide, and also donate our products to charities that hold benefits for people and organizations. We encourage you to donate your time or resources too.
