A note from Cate - founder of Queen B
Since announcing the closure of Queen B, I’ve been overwhelmed — not just by orders, but by the emails, cards, stories, photographs, tears, hugs and generosity that have arrived in their wake. I find myself genuinely lost for words.
Queen B was never just a business. It was a living expression of my personal and professional values: honesty, integrity, excellence, beauty without compromising ethics, and a fierce belief that people deserve the truth so they can make better decisions.
What began as a way of managing anxiety and depression grew into a 25-year effort to slow the world down, to help people be present, and to send pure light into peoples lives — quietly, stubbornly, and without shortcuts.
None of this would have been possible without you. Thousands of customers chose our candles and wraps, shared our story, and trusted what we were trying to do. I am also deeply indebted our beekeepers who care for the bees who made this all possible and to the many Australian suppliers and regional communities who supported Queen B along the way.
I want you to know that every message has been (or will be) read and every kindness felt. I love hearing from you, and I will reply to each message in time — but right now I am very tired, emotionally spent, and in need of a little space to clear my head and absorb the weight and wonder of what has been.
Closing Queen B was a choice, not a failure. It was a small business that made a big difference — and it asked everything of me. Stepping away means learning how to sit with uncertainty, how to take each day as it comes, and how to imagine a life beyond the role I inhabited so completely for so long. That is uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and necessary.
Thank you for being part of this story. Thank you for caring so deeply, and thank you for allowing me the grace to pause before whatever comes next.
With gratitude,
Cate
PS I am still busy testing other beeswax candles so that I can make recommendations and I’ll send an email with an update in the next few weeks.
PPS As ‘Queen B’ as we knew it is now closed, my email addresses for the foreseeable future will beevenbeesneedtosleep@queenb.com.au orcate.burton@gmail.com
How The Light Comes
I cannot tell you
how the light comes.
What I know
is that it is more ancient
than imagining.
That it travels
across an astounding expanse
to reach us.
That it loves
searching out
what is hidden,
what is lost,
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.
That it has a fondness
for the body,
for finding its way
toward flesh,
for tracing the edges
of form,
for shining forth
through the eye,
the hand,
the heart.
I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem
long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape
you did not foresee.
And so
may we this day
turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces
to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies
to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still
to the blessed light
that comes.
by Jan Richardson