Why Beeswax Color Varies

May 16, 2018

You can line up ten beeswax candles from ten different makers and every one will be a different color. Even candles from the same maker vary. The reason is simple: beeswax isn't made in a factory that controls every step. It's made by - drum roll - bees. Where a bee lives decides which flowers and plants she forages, and that shapes both the color of her wax and the scent it carries.

Where the wax sat in the hive

Cappings wax is the lightest. It's the wax the bees use to seal up honeycomb, and it has a delicate honey scent.
Honeycomb wax is deeper, anywhere from pale yellow to a rich golden shade, with a fuller honey scent from all that time spent against the honey.
Brood comb wax is much darker - brown to nearly black. This was the nursery, where the bees were born. It doesn't carry the sweet honey scent, and depending on how long it sat in the hive it can smell genuinely unpleasant. Candle makers don't knowingly use it.

One thing worth knowing: very dark golden wax, almost light brown, is not brood comb. It's usually just wax that spent a long time in the hive around honey and pollen. That kind of color variation is completely normal.

What happens after the bees are done

Not every color difference comes from the bees.

Honey processing. A beekeeper may melt dark brood comb in together with cappings and honey super wax. Harvesting honey from wax can darken it too - some methods are gentle, others overheat the wax and turn it brown.
The candle maker. Overheating beeswax while making candles darkens it as well, and heat strips out the sweet honey scent. That's why experienced makers are careful with their wax: too much heat costs you the color and the scent both.

We buy our beeswax directly from trusted apiaries in the Pacific Northwest and hand-select it by color and scent. We know how the wax was handled, and what the bees were foraging on.

What to look for when you're buying

Big Moon Beeswax pillar candle with tulips

Look for lighter colors - cream, yellow, golden. Even very deep gold is beautiful. That whole range carries the best honey scent and gives you the warm golden glow you're buying a beeswax candle for in the first place.

White beeswax is a different thing

You can buy pure white beeswax, and it's popular for weddings. Beeswax actually starts out white when the bees make it; by the time we harvest it, honey and pollen have colored it. Getting it back to white takes either natural filtration or chemicals - and natural filtration takes nearly all of the honey scent out along with the color.

Every white and ivory candle we make is naturally filtered, never chemically whitened.

So people buying white candles for a wedding are trading the honey scent for a bright, long-burning, drip-free white candle. That's a fair trade if white is what the day needs. Just ask where the wax came from, so you don't end up with chemically treated wax carrying an artificial smell of its own.

Hopefully that explains why the color and the honey scent shift a little from candle to candle. Buy your beeswax candles from a source you trust and you won't have to worry about getting inferior wax. Enjoy beeswax in all its shades.

Common Questions

Why are beeswax candles different colors?

Because bees make the wax, not a factory. The color depends on where the bees foraged and where in the hive the wax sat - cappings wax is the palest, honeycomb wax runs from pale yellow to deep gold, and brood comb is darkest of all. How the wax was handled after harvest matters too: too much heat turns it brown.

Why is my new candle a different color than my last one?

That's normal, and it's a sign you're holding real beeswax. Wax varies by hive, by season, and by what was blooming when the bees were out. A candle can arrive a shade lighter or deeper than the one before it and be the same product. Color that never varies at all can mean that the wax is blended or processed in order to keep a consistent color over the years. Pure beeswax color varies from season to season and year to year.

Does darker beeswax mean lower quality?

No. Very dark gold, almost light brown, usually just means the wax spent a long stretch in the hive around honey and pollen. It isn't brood comb and it isn't a defect. What matters is whether the candle is 100% beeswax - not which shade of gold it landed on.

Does the color of beeswax change its scent?

A little. Cappings wax, the palest, has a delicate honey scent. Golden honeycomb wax carries a fuller one from all that time spent against the honey. Heat is the bigger factor, though: overheating beeswax at any stage darkens it and strips the honey scent out at the same time.

Is beeswax naturally white or yellow?

Both, at different points. Bees make it white; honey and pollen color it while it sits in the hive. White beeswax candles have been taken back to white by either natural filtration or chemicals. Natural filtration allows the honey scent to remain in the wax. Every white and ivory candle we make is naturally filtered, never chemically whitened.