Fast Links:
Where you can find us
Candle & Burning FAQ
What is "Natural Beeswax"?
What do you mean by "lightly filtered"?
Why do cracks sometimes form on the top of the candles after burning?
Why do pillar candles burn down the center and what's to be done?
What can be done about dripping or smoking?
What is the best way to burn a votive?
Can I leave the label on the candle?
Why are beeswax candles different colors or differently smelling?
Do the candles drip?
What is the white cloudy film that forms on the beeswax candles?
What is the difference between solid beeswax and the rolled honeycomb beeswax?
Why is the wick so large in the beeswax pillar candles?
I'm very sensitive to strong scents, are chemicals or scents added to the candles?

About Our Candles

Features of Two Bees' Candles

• Our candles are perfume free with the original aroma of honey from the hive.
• We use only all cotton wicks in all of our candles.
• We hand dip our tapered candles in small batches, and they can be ordered by the pair either plain or decorated, in two sizes, either 4" or 8".
• We take care in making our candles, and that individual attention shows in the finished product.
• Our candles are a gift you can feel good about giving, because they are made well and are beautiful, and because they are the healthiest and safest candle you can use. Better for you, your home, and better for the environment.
• We use only lightly filtered pure cappings beeswax for our candles.

For our tapered candles:

• Our tapers burn virtually dripless. However, drafts, bumping the candle, or the decorations sometimes cause drips. Place all of our candles in candleholders or on candle plates to catch the stray drip.
• We use colored decoration wax that is made in Germany. This is a mixture of waxes, and is triple-certified in Europe as nontoxic, even passing the nontoxic requirements for food.
• Each pair of tapered candles is unique and designs will vary slightly.
• Each 8" pair is packaged is packaged with care in a gold gift box.
• Each set of three 8" or six 4" tapered pairs is boxed in a gold gift box with a clear lid.
• We are adding new styles of decoration all the time and we welcome you to work with us to create new candles. We love custom orders.
• Our recent new designs include Brian's Volcano Candle, complete with lava flow and lava bombs flying all over the candles, and our New Year's Eve candles, with fireworks.
• We purchase beeswax from around the Great Lakes only, as this local beeswax is a particularly bright yellow, high quality beeswax, not the paler beeswax available elsewhere.
• Our 4" and 8" tapered candles fit standard 7/8" candleholders.

For our pillars and shaped candles:

• Our new line of hand poured molded candles is growing faster than we can get them on the website.
• We now sell pillars and shaped candles ( cylinders, corn, tulips, rose bud, large and small eggs, wedding bells), votives, travel candles, tealites, and candle holders and candle plates.
• We are creating a variety of gift baskets, including our spring baskets, and weekend get-away baskets which are very popular.

Original artwork:
We have begun to work with artists to create original candles from their original artwork, and are excited about all the new ideas being generated in this process. Check our website often, you never know what we'll come up with next.

Where you can find us:

Every Day:
Email or call.

Farmer's Markets:
We sell frequently at the Northville, Michigan Farmer's Market on Thursdays and the Farmington, Michigan Farmer's Market on Saturdays. Check our What's New section for exact dates for these markets as we schedule in 2008.

Throughout the year:
Art & Craft Fairs:
We sell at assorted art and craft fairs during the year, and are starting to set up our schedule for 2008. Check our "what's new" section of this site for fairs we'll be at, dates, locations. Please e-mail your ideas to us for additional sale events you think we would fit right in with.

Stores carrying our candles are:

• Downtown Home and Garden, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Arbor Farms Market, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Found Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• The Garden Mill, Chelsea, Michigan
• Scottie's Kitchen, Northville, Michigan
• Avalon Faire, Ferndale, Michigan

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is "Natural Beeswax"?
Natural beeswax is created by the honeybees in the production of honey in the hive. It is scented by honey and colored by the pollen from the flowers the bees visit in the creation of the honey. Much of the beeswax available today has been highly processed, some with paraffin added. Honeycomb beeswax sheets likely have paraffin added, and have lost any honey aroma they started with. White beeswax has often been chemically bleached and highly filtered.

We use only the natural beeswax, made from the "cappings" in the hive, which are the caps the bees put on the honey in each cell of the honeycomb in the hive. This means we do not add any paraffin, additives, chemicals or fragrances of any kind. Our beeswax is made by the bees in the process of building their honeycomb, and is the wax "cap" they put on each cell of honey in the comb. We lightly filter through a cotton cloth to remove large particulate matter that can clog the wick if left in the beeswax. This ensures that the beeswax is as close to its original state as possible, and it retains the natural honey aroma from the hive. We do not use high pressure extruders that others sometimes use to more highly process the beeswax, as this process removes the honey and pollen, and results in a very different, browner, beeswax.

Neither Beeswax or Honey can truly be called "organic", meaning certified organic, because the bees are free to travel for miles gathering the pollen they need. No one can control where the bees go, thus it is natural honey, but not certified organic in the truest sense of the word.

What do you mean by "lightly filtered"?
We only pour our molten beeswax through a cotton fabric to filter out the large particles that may clog the wick if left in the beeswax. Our simple filtering does not affect the color, smell, or texture of our beeswax.

Why do cracks sometimes form on the top of the candles after burning?
Burning the pillar candles for extended periods of time results in a large pool of melted wax (the melt pool). When this melted wax cools and solidifies, it shrinks slightly and this may cause cracks on the top surface. This is not a problem, and when you next light it, the wax will remelt normally.

Why do pillar candles burn down the center and what's to be done?
This happens when you use them for short periods. At least some of the time, burn the pillar for an extended period of time, 1 hour per inch in diameter. The first time you light your candle, you want to burn the pillar until the melt pool extends to within 1/4 inch of the outer edge of the candle. This will establish the outer limit of the melt pool, and the candle will then not burn through and drip down the side. That should help it continue burning evenly.

What can be done about dripping or smoking?
Keep your wick trimmed to ¼ inch. If you notice black smoke rising from the wick and a large flame, simply extinguish the flame, trim the wick, and relight the candle. That should do the trick.

What is the best way to burn a votive?
Always burn votive candles in a votive holder. Votive candles are meant to burn all the way across and down, and in doing so they spill over the edge and look like a puddle of liquid inside the votive holder. Votives are not meant to hold their own melt pools, and need to always be burned in a votive holder.

Can I leave the label on the candle?
No. Please remove the label prior to burning, so it is not a fire hazard.

Why are beeswax candles different colors or differently smelling?
Beeswax is a natural product and variation in color and scent is normal. This depends on the plants the bees visit and collect their pollen and nectar from. We purchase beeswax from beekeepers in Wisconsin and Michigan, and the color of our beeswax depends on what plants these bees visit. This will vary from year to year, beekeeper to beekeeper, area to area. Beeswax candles from other candle makers and other parts of the country and the world will naturally be different in color, texture, and smell.

Do the candles drip?
Some do, most don't. We test burn our candles to make sure that we are using the right size of wick for each candle. While we have chosen wicks that do not result in wax dripping down the sides of the candles, it is impossible to control the individual variations in batches of beeswax completely. Our shaped pillars may be less predictable than our round pillars, votives, and tapers because of their non-uniform shapes (hearts, tulips, rosebuds).

If placed in a draft, or burned for extended periods, they may inadvertently drip. We recommend placing pillars on a heat resistant container or candle plate. We recommend our votives be burned only in a votive holder.

What is the white cloudy film that forms on the beeswax candles?
This film is called "Bloom", and is normal and occurs on all pure beeswax. It is easily removed by wiping the surface with a soft cloth, applying gentle heat with a hair dryer, or simply wiping the candle surface with your finger tips. It is not necessary to remove the bloom, and many people don't. Bloom is your assurance that you have 100% beeswax.

What is the difference between solid beeswax and the rolled honeycomb beeswax?
You will notice a significant difference in burn time as the solid beeswax is exceptionally long burning. A solid beeswax pillar or votive candle is made by pouring hot liquid wax into a mold, or dipping the wick repeatedly into the molten wax to build up over 20 layers to achieve a 7/8" tapered candle.

Honeycomb beeswax is found in sheets, often colored, and can be rolled by hand to form a cylinder. The resulting rolled candle is much less dense (mainly air) and burns up much faster. Solid beeswax is a better value.

Why is the wick so large in the beeswax pillar candles?
The wick needs to be about double the thickness of the wick used for paraffin candles of the same diameter. We use square-braided cotton wicks as they seem to work best for beeswax candles, and produce a strong, steady, bright flame. We test our candles to determine the proper combination of wick size to the size and shape of our candles.

We use only all cotton wicks in all of our candles. This means you will not find a small wire core in the wick, which when burned may release lead and other metal fumes into the air you breathe, including zinc. Lead fumes from candles cause lead exposure to people and sooting on walls and ceilings in homes. This is a major factor in indoor air pollution. These metal core wicks look like cotton, and are used extensively in regular, cheap, mass produced candles.

I'm very sensitive to strong scents, are chemicals or scents added to the candles?
No chemicals, perfumes or essential oils of any kind are ever added to our beeswax. The only thing we ever add is the colored decoration wax that we use in our decorations on the outside of some of our candles.

While no scents are added, all of our candles have the natural honey scent from the hive.