Beeswax Candle Making Kit by The Bee Shop

This beeswax candle making kit is a great gift for children or adults. Makes 3 rolled sweet smelling beeswax candles and includes a decorative bee pin for each candle. Instructions included. Great educational craft activity to learn more about the amazing substance these beneficial insects, that help to ensure our nation's food supply, produce to make their home and the sweet smelling light.

Below is the interesting story of the little decorative bee pins included with this beeswax candles making kit.

As a beekeeper people often ask me: "Oliver what do the honeybees do in our winter? And it is very interesting what they do. A good beekeeper, for our Ontario winter, will leave their honeybees about 60 lbs of honey to overwinter with.  In late autumn we usually wrap the hives with an insulated sleeve around the hive, reduce the entrance and other winterizing techniques are done to help the bees make it through the cold.

When the outside temperture goes below 7-8 Celsious the honeybees start to cluster in  a basketball size shape and they place their queen bee in the very middle of the cluster where she will be the warmest and most protected. Then they take turns circulating from the middle of the cluster to its periphery and they slowly move the cluster around the hive, eating the honey they made during the summer.

Now honeybees have a pair of wings on either side. And each side wing as 2 parts that join together with tiny hooks, when in flight so they can flap their wings and fly. But once in winter cluster, they cannot flap their wings, as they in are in very close proximity, they would strike their sister bees. So they unhook the middle part of their 2 part wings and shiver. So this is how they can keep the temperture up in the hive during the winter!

Your little decorative bee pin has a pin part which represents the bee's stinger and also the wings can detach and be put back on reminding us of how the blessed honey bees survive our winter. 

Tip

If you just would like to display your artisan beeswax candle, once a month you can gently pass a hairdryer over it to refresh its scent. 

To learn more about these fascinating insects that help to ensure our nation's food supply, try our beeswax candle making workshops and / or our beekeeping programs (Adult and Youth).