Queen B Organic Beeswax Candles

We're often asked if Queen B candles are organic beeswax candles and the answer is a most certainly yes. By definition, beeswax is a biological or organic matter. Given Queen B candle only contain 100% pure Australian beeswax and a cotton wick, you can be comfortable burning our organic beeswax tealight candles, organic beeswax dinner candles, organic beeswax votive candles, organic pillar candles etc etc. You get the picture. Then there is a question about certified organic beeswax candles and Queen B candles are not certified organic. We know of others in the industry claiming certified organic without certification but that's not how we roll. So, why aren't we certified? Because our beeswax isn't certified organic. And why aren't we buying certified organic beeswax? Because you won't find a third or fourth generation beekeeper who is certified because they know that as it relates to beeswax and honey, the certification is a marketing exercise, it is not relevant to the way you keep bees (and their universal feedback to me when I've asked is that they don't see the point in spending the almost $100,000 it would cost when it doesn't make one iota of difference to the way they keep their bees or the honey they produce). For instance, bees will fly 7 - 10km's in search of nectar (the distance depending on what source you believe!) but organic certification for bees/honey is that your hives have to be 5km's from the nearest chemically sprayed field or industry. So, you could place your bees, 5.1km's from a chemically sprayed field and still have certified organic honey. Queen B is ultimately about truth and integrity. It is more important to me to know that the wax that we source is from well cared for bees (ie from beekeepers that are second, third, fourth generation) than to buy 'certified organic' beeswax. The bottom line is that you can trust a Queen B candle by the claims we DON'T make. And when you come across something that looks a little too good to be true (ie 'certified' organic beeswax candles with no certification logo (and no certification) that are cheaper than Queen B candles) then trust your intuition, or if you're still in doubt, ask to see the certification. The other interesting thing (because knowledge is power!) is that the major reason why the cost of Australian beeswax has increased 85% in the last 12 months and that is because as the only country without the varroa mite, our beeswax is the only beeswax in the world that is naturally free from miticides (chemicals used to control & kill the varroa mite). We're exporting the vast majority of Australian beeswax at the moment to the global pharmaceutical and cosmetics giants... great for Australian beekeepers, not so great for us! Great for you to know that we're making your candles with miticide free wax and that we're lucky to have had relationships with our beekeepers for over a decade which is the only way we've been able to get our hands on wax. Ultimately a natural beeswax candle is always going to be far safer to burn from a health perspective than a petrochemical byproduct (paraffin wax) or a chemically bleached, heavy metal hydrogenated oil (soy wax). Mother nature has always been pretty clever in providing us with what we need without us needing to change it. Seriously, how would you think of a flying insect that would collect flower nectar (pollinating the flowers as she goes) and then extrude wax from wax glands on her stomach?! There's about ten new facts of the day for you!... you can go to bed and light an organic beeswax candle from Queen B! Cate x