She was named Beekeeper of the Year 2013 in South Carolina. She and her friend and fellow Beekeeper Cynthia were actually one of the first speakers, my hubby and I saw at our Local Bee Club.
They are fun, kind and knowledgeable speakers! Not to forget, they are inspiring. They do a whole program of teaching kids about bees and their importance to our planet. For me it is always fun to find other women with the same interest. Such a treat!
The Candle Making Class was held in Sally's Honey House. My husband and I had seen it on the York County Ag & Art Tour last summer. It gives me great hope, as one day, I plan on turning our carport into one!!
Don't tell my husband!! Ssshhh!! More honey-do's!!
She has converted their garage into a Honey Production Area/ Candle Making Studio. It is an awesome space!! The group was mainly from their Local Bee Club. They were fun and friendly, a great group of people to spend the day with.
As I am the Beeless Beekeeper, I am always amazed at how much I learn from just hanging out with Beekeepers! Everyone has a different take or experience, or a different way of seeing something! It was a laughter filled experience. Just fantastic!!
The honey harvesting section of the studio.
Sally shared with us how she keeps her honey at a temperature where it will not crystallize in the winter. She uses a heat lamp and sensor! Sorta like what you use with baby chicks! So cool! Something I had not even considered, since I have never harvested any honey! I am always thrilled with the different homemade devices that artisans create to make their individual experience go more smoothly!
We learned about rendering the raw beeswax to get it to a place that is clean enough to become candles. For me, as always, just seeing the process makes it real. I learn by seeing, doing and that makes it something I can recreate. Certainly, not as well, but it gives me a little confidence in what it should look like.
There are many safety issues to consider when working with hot wax. A fire extinguisher handy and never leaving your melting wax, unless you turn off your burner!
We all had the choice of a polyurethane mold or we could pour into a glass container. There were adorable molds of Christmas trees, globes, and all kinds of shapes.
Wax hardening in the molds. See the ingenious technique for keeping your wick centered!
Clothespins holding wick and tied off to the wire rack above....
Tricks of the trade!!
My first candle!
Another ingenious trick to centering the wick in a glass container!
Chopsticks! or Skewer!
You wrap your wick and get it centered before you start pouring. It stays through the hardening process. So very cool!
It is important to remember to put warning labels on your candles. Just a kind reminder to whomever received a gift or purchased an item, to never leave a burning candle unattended.
We went over the different types of wicks, molds, and possible sources for candle making supplies!
You can harvest your wax from your own hives or you can buy from other Beekeepers. Beeswax is so beautiful and smells so good.
We ended our fun filled experience with rolling our own candles from Beeswax foundation!
Oh, so much fun!
Another gift from our buzzing little friends!
Beekeepers Rock!
Thanks MamaBeeHive!!
Quote for the day:
"Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives....most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity.....when we are involved in it, we feel we are living more fully than during the rest of life."
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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