# Beeswax smell



## Kurt Bower (Aug 28, 2002)

Everyone knows that one of the best parts of a beeswax candle is the awesome smell that it gives off. How can you not love it!?
My question has to do with rendering beeswax and retaining that smell. 
My initial rendering comes from a solar wax melter. After which I typically melt that wax in boiling water on the stove and strain it back through some sweatshirt material. I have noticed tha it does not smell as nice or strong as the beeswax that I purchase from some of the local distributers.
Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,
Kurt


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The purchased wax seems to have some kind of perfume added. I'm not sure what it is, but it's not what the real thing smells like. Real beeswax is more complex. Earthy and sweet at the same time.


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## Dick Allen (Sep 4, 2004)

Brand new beeswax fresh from the bee's wax gland is odorless, too if I'm not mistaken. Of course I could be wrong....

I have a couple of old cakes of greyish-brown wax rendered from slum gum. At first they had a real earthy smell to them when taken from the mold. Several weeks later the earthy smell disappeared and they took on a more typical beeswax aroma.


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## AlpineJean (Apr 3, 2005)

Maybe instead of mixing it w/ water when you liquefy it for the final straining you could simply melt it carefully in a double boiler or a tall pan set down in a heavy pot and that might help it to keep whatever is in it from becoming diluted... Just a notion.


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