Our wax

Every candle Hannah makes starts as comb from the hives of her friend Paxton, who runs As It Is In Heaven, a small honey outfit here in the Treasure Valley.

Paxton keeps about 500 hives, and every one of them sits on an organic farm around the valley, by agreement with the farmer who works it. The bees forage what grows there. The honey is raw and unfiltered, strained through a big strainer and never heated, and nothing is ever shipped anywhere. It is sold by hand, around here, to people who come and get it.

The wax is the same story. When comb gets old, or when the honey is uncapped, the wax comes off and gets melted down and cleaned. Paxton sells it to Hannah by the block. Hannah melts it again, strains it, and dips.

What raw means for a candle

Raw wax has not been bleached or chemically filtered. It keeps its colour and its honey smell, which is why the candles range from pale butter to deep gold, and why a lit one smells faintly of a hive. Filtered white beeswax is prettier in a catalogue and smells of nothing.

Because it is local, Hannah knows which hives it came from and roughly what the bees were on. Because it is from one small beekeeper, the supply is what the bees make and no more, which is why some candles are sold out for a while between dips.

Why it matters to her

Hannah did not go looking for a wax supplier. She had a friend with bees and more old comb than she knew what to do with, and a kitchen. The candles came out of that. She would rather make fewer candles from wax she can name than more from wax that came in a box.

If you want the honey, Paxton sells that too, around the valley. When her site is up there will be a link to it here.

Read why beeswax is worth the trouble, or go and pick some candles.