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Beeswax candles have been used in temples and for sacred purposes throughout
the entire history of Western Civilization. From Egyptian tombs to Minoan
palaces to ancient Greek funerals to Roman mid-winter observances to
European cathedrals to Jewish synagogues, fragrant non-smoking beeswax
candles are the preferred form of sacred light. Beeswax candles do not bend
over as they burn, and when melted, beeswax does not over-feed candle wicks,
thus resulting in in a white round flame that lasts longer and gives more
light than any potential substitute for beeswax in candles.
Beeswax floats on water and has the highest melting point of any known wax.
Bees must eat about seven or eight pounds of honey in order to produce one
pound of wax. During the height of honey harvest, or two to three days after
having been fed a heavy diet of sugar syrup, bees extrude wax between the
rings of the undersides of their bodies. Wax production is largely the work
of younger bees, who have not yet begun their nectar-gathering trips far
away from their hives. Bumblebees and stingless bees also produce wax, but
it is chemically different from the wax of honeybees.
Beeswax has been used on everything from electrical insulation to
waterproofing to furniture and leather polish to phonograph records --- and,
of course, as sealing wax for letters.
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