7 minute read
The deep resonant hum of a bee hive is a pleasure exclusively afforded during the warm half of the year. A single colony, often numbering in the tens of thousands, functions as a superorganism; a thriving industrious entity where each bee plays a vital role in the colony's success. Like the cells of a living being, the hive operates as a unified, self-sustaining organism, growing, adapting, and reproducing. The collective and individual efforts of a bee reveal the intricate labor behind bee-derived products, offering a deeper appreciation of what it means to hold a single beeswax candle.
As one of many pollinating insect species, including butterflies, beetles, and flies, the honey bee is exceptional, responsible for pollinating one-third of food crops worldwide and exclusively producing honey and beeswax. The process is complex, and creating just one pound of honey or one pound of beeswax requires the concerted effort of a hive, the heat of the sun, the warming earth, the bloom of flowers, and a healthy ecosystem- specifically, the absence of environmental toxins like pesticides and the control of invasive species that threaten hive stability. It takes the little and the large to maintain balance and harmony between all things. The result? Perpetuation of life on earth as we enjoy it now. It all begins somewhere, and conditions need to be right to get off to a good start.
Winter Conditions
During winter, the hive appears silent: no movement, no hum. But inside, life continues. The bees rely on their carefully stored honey to survive the cold months. Forty to sixty lbs will be enough to last from late autumn through winter. During the coldest spells, the bees cluster into a tight living sphere, vibrating their flight muscles in a coordinated shiver that generates heat. This way the internal hive temperature is maintained around 95 degrees fahrenheit, sustained by thousands of tiny bodies working as one. At the center of this warmth is the queen; her survival is paramount.
Spring Conditions
In Spring, as Earth enters a phase of rebirth, the single queen begins her work of building the colony. Fed honey by the winter worker bees, she has the energy to lay around 1,500 eggs daily in empty honeycomb cells, inspecting each as she goes. This new brood, primarily female worker bees will build and forage in the coming warm months. Each worker bee's life will be relatively short, only 6 weeks and there is much for her to accomplish. She will be responsible for all tasks essential to the hive except for reproduction.
So Many Jobs, So Few Days
In a process called temporal polyethism bees progress through various roles within the hive dependent upon the stage in the lifecycle. All bees start as larvae in a capped wax cell, chewing through the cap and emerging on day one. The following describes many, but not all specialized jobs of the female worker bee.
-Mortuary Bees (Days 3–16) – Responsible for maintaining hive hygiene, these workers remove deceased bees and larvae, depositing them outside the hive to prevent disease and contamination.
-Tending to Drones (Days 4–12) – As larvae, drones (male bees) require additional care and feeding from worker bees before being able to feed themselves.
-Drones exist primarily to mate with a queen. Their population fluctuates with the seasons, comprising roughly 10% of the colony during warmer months but disappearing entirely in winter.
-Queen Attendants (Days 7–12) – These bees groom and feed the queen while distributing her pheromones throughout the colony. The presence of these chemical signals reassures the hive of a healthy and active queen.
-Pollen Packers (Days 12–18) – Foraged pollen is collected and stored within honeycomb cells where it is mixed with small amounts of honey and packed with their heads before sealing it for later use in feeding developing larvae.
-Honey Sealing (Days 12–35) – Bees tasked with honey processing ensure proper moisture content (>18%) before capping full cells with wax.
-Wax Makers (Days 12-18) - They secrete wax from specialized glands in their abdomens.
-Honeycomb Builders (Days 12–35) – Wax-producing bees pass wax scales to others who soften the wax. The softened wax is passed to designated builders who shape and expand the hive's structure and storage capacity.
-Fanning Bees (Days 12–18) – Acting as the hive's cooling system, these workers use their wings to circulate air, assisting with temperature regulation and moisture control.
-Guard Bees (Days 18–21) – Positioned at the hive's entrance, guard bees regulate access to the colony, repelling intruders and assessing incoming bees to prevent threats.
-Foraging Bees (Days 22–42) – The final and most labor-intensive stage of a worker bee's life is spent gathering resources. Foragers travel up to five miles in search of nectar and pollen to sustain the hive's food supply. They collect what's available to them including water, honey, and wax salvaged from other colonies.
While bees perform a wide range of tasks throughout their lifetimes, not all individuals assume every role and their responsibilities fluctuate in response to the hive's immediate needs. Some develop specialized functions within their primary duties. Those responsible for evaporating nectar may also contribute to thermoregulation, acting as a cooling system to maintain optimal hive conditions.
If a particular subset of the colony experiences a decline or depletion, bees at different developmental stages will adjust to compensate. For example, a sudden drop in the forager population prompts younger worker bees to transition into this role, ensuring the continuous acquisition of essential resources and the stability of the hive's operations.
Progression
It's mid-spring and the population is strong, nectar is abundant and there is a surplus. Additional storage space for honey is needed so it's time to create honeycomb. Producing wax is hard work and she will need to eat extra honey to accomplish the job. However, producing just a small amount of honey is a feat in itself.
The Numbers Behind Honey
Over the course of her life, she will produce just 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.
Producing one pound of honey requires the efforts of approximately 556 worker bees, who must collectively visit around 2 million flowers.
To create just one pound of honey, bees travel an astonishing 55,000 miles. That is the equivalent of circling the Earth 2.2 times.
The production of a single pound of beeswax demands the consumption of 8 to 9 pounds of honey.
The Process of Beeswax Production
Bees are stimulated to produce honeycomb when nectar is abundant but there is insufficient comb for storage. To fuel the metabolic conversion of honey into wax, they consume large quantities of honey. This process is highly energy-intensive, requiring significant effort from the colony.
Beeswax is secreted from four pairs of specialized wax glands located on the underside of a bee's abdomen. These glands are most active between days 12 and 18 of a worker bee's life, after which they begin to deteriorate, reducing wax production efficiency. It takes approximately 12 hours for these glands to generate just eight minuscule, translucent flakes of wax—each no larger than a pinhead. Given the negligible amount produced by an individual bee, the formation of honeycomb requires the collective effort of thousands.
Starting as a liquid within the body, the wax hardens upon secretion, gradually accumulating in layers until it forms an oval scale. These delicate scales are then removed and chewed to soften before being passed along to other bees, who shape them into cylindrical cells. When pressed together they morph into the iconic hexagonal structure. The hexagon is an extraordinarily efficient shape, maximizing storage space while minimizing material use.
Putting It All Together
This means that for every one of Wonders of the Year candles that weigh at least 11.5 oz, a colony has utilized the energy equivalent of nearly 6.6 pounds of honey. 3,650 bees collectively visited 13 million flowers and flew 361,000 miles carrying the equivalent of their body weight back to the hive up to 5 miles approximately 10x per day.
It's with this refreshed perspective and appreciation that Wonders of the Year chose to use a specialized subset of wax that is even less common and is prized for its natural ivory color. Using first-year wax, cappings, and broodless comb formed by bees who feasted on light color nectar. Harvested regionally exclusively within the US. As a result, there is a super limited amount and we produce a select number of candles each year based on the availability of wax. With this method we can achieve the objective of offering products that are as close to nature as possible, completely avoiding chemical processing.
When you unbox one of our candles, admire the vibrancy of its color, the glistening haze of soft oils resting on its surface, and the subtle scent of honey bound to the wax, beneath your fingers is the work of thousands of bees working thousands of hours.
And when you light it, perhaps you will encounter the warmth of the sun that heated the land and stirred the flowers and sustained the cycle that made this possible for another year.