How to Identify Genuine Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural material with a character all of its own.
It can vary in colour, aroma and appearance, and because it is produced by honey bees and used inside the hive, no two batches will necessarily look exactly the same.
But if you're buying beeswax, candles or other products made from wax, how can you tell more about the material being used?
There isn't one simple home test that can prove that a piece of wax is 100% pure beeswax.
However, there are several natural characteristics worth knowing.
What Does Natural Beeswax Look Like?
Natural beeswax can range from pale cream and yellow through to deeper golden shades. The colour depends partly on the age and history of the wax and what it has been exposed to inside the hive. Freshly produced wax tends to be lighter, while wax that has been used within the colony can become darker over time. Honey, pollen, propolis and other materials from the hive can all influence its appearance. This means that natural beeswax doesn't have one “correct” colour.
Does Real Beeswax Smell Like Honey?
Natural beeswax can have a gentle, warm and slightly sweet aroma. The strength of that aroma can vary considerably. The wax's history, how it has been cleaned and filtered, and how it is stored can all affect the finished scent. A strong honey smell isn't a requirement for genuine beeswax, and the absence of a strong smell doesn't automatically mean that wax isn't genuine.
Natural Variation Is Normal
One of the easiest things to forget when buying natural beeswax is that it isn't a manufactured material with a perfectly uniform appearance. You may notice differences in:
Colour
Texture
Surface appearance
Aroma
Opacity
These variations can occur naturally between batches.
For us, they are part of the character of working with beeswax.
What Is Beeswax Bloom?
You may sometimes notice a pale, frosted or powdery-looking appearance developing on beeswax. This is commonly known as beeswax bloom. It is a natural surface characteristic of beeswax and can occur on both raw wax and finished products such as candles. Bloom does not mean that the wax has become contaminated or that a candle has gone bad. It can sometimes be removed or reduced by gently polishing the surface, depending on the product.
You can learn more about beeswax bloom and other natural characteristics in Understanding Beeswax.
Does Burning Prove That Beeswax Is Genuine?
Not by itself. Beeswax has particular burning characteristics, but the way a candle burns is affected by many factors, including:
Wick type
Wick size
Candle shape
Candle diameter
Draughts
Burning conditions
For that reason, you shouldn't rely on flame appearance or burn behaviour alone to prove what a candle is made from.A trustworthy description of the material and a clear source are much more useful.
Look at the Product Information
If you're buying a beeswax candle or beeswax product, look at what the maker actually tells you.
Does the description clearly say what the product is made from?
Does the maker explain where the beeswax comes from?
Does the business talk about how the wax is recovered or prepared?
Being able to trace the material back to its source gives you much more useful information than trying to perform a home test.
Our Beeswax
The beeswax we work with comes from our own beekeeping wherever suitable.
Our bees produce wax to build the comb inside their hives, where honey and pollen are stored and young bees are raised.
When suitable wax is recovered during our beekeeping and honey harvesting, we can clean, filter and prepare it for another purpose.
That means some of the beeswax used in our handmade products has a journey that begins directly inside our own Lincolnshire hives.
You can follow that journey in From Hive to Beeswax.
Why Beeswax Can Change Colour
If you have bought beeswax at different times and noticed that the colour isn't identical, this doesn't necessarily mean one batch is genuine and another isn't. Natural beeswax changes according to its history. Wax that has spent longer in the hive can contain traces of materials associated with the colony and may become darker. Wax from different parts of the beekeeping process can therefore look quite different. This is one of the reasons we don't expect every candle or batch of wax to look exactly the same.
Can You Test Beeswax at Home?
There are many traditional tests and claims online about identifying beeswax. Some involve melting the wax, smelling it, bending it or observing how it behaves. While these observations can sometimes tell you something about the material, they should not be treated as definitive proof of purity. If the exact composition of a wax is important, proper material analysis is far more reliable than a home test. For everyday buying, look for a trustworthy producer who is open about what their product contains and where it comes from.
From Hive to Handmade Product
For us, the most important part of genuine beeswax isn't a particular shade of yellow or whether it passes an internet test. It's knowing its story. Our bees create wax inside the hive. Suitable wax can then be recovered through our beekeeping, prepared and given another purpose. That beeswax can eventually become part of a handmade candle or another product that finds its way from our hives into someone's home. That connection between bee, hive, beeswax and handmade product is what makes this material so special to us.
Learn more......
Frequently asked questions
From Genuine Beeswax to Handmade
Now that you know more about the natural characteristics of genuine beeswax, you can explore how we use beeswax from our Lincolnshire hives in our handmade products.From simple natural candles to decorative, coloured and scented designs, there's plenty to discover.
