FIRE and the 3 P’s

Fire is good!

"Beeswax burns clean, church candles are made from it."

And, you know this how?

Beeswax burns pretty quick. If you need to increase the hardness of the wax to slow down the rate of burn, then add solid stearine to the liquid wax.

–B.G.–

-BG-I have a wealth of fire related information.

http://www.beehivecandles.com/pages/help/about-beeswax-candles.html

100% Pure Beeswax

We use only clean, lightly filtered, 100% pure beeswax from beeswax cappings in our beeswax candles, with no fillers or additives. It's non-toxic properties make it perfect for a clean burning and bright fuel source as a beeswax candle.

Unlike most manufactured paraffin candles, beeswax is hypo-allergenic, great for people with allergies or other sensitivities, and those of us who want a clean burning candle in our homes.

Smoke & Soot Free

Using beeswax candles is an excellent way to keep your home free of the smoke and soot that is a common result of burning paraffin candles.

When burned in a draft free environment with the wick trimmed to 1/4" a beeswax candle will burn bright and clean with virtually no smoke or soot.

http://www.honeywonders.com/beeswaxcandles.html

Pure beeswax is a great choice for candle making. It is extraordinary because it does not melt readily. It is all natural, non-toxic, non-polluting, and non-allergenic. Beeswax candles are naturally scented with the smell of honey, so no scent is added. Beeswax is a natural secretion from glands on the sides of the body of honeybees. It is used to make the honeycomb cells in which the young bees are raised and honey and pollen are stored. Beeswax is produced by the female worker honeybees. It is almost pure white when first secreted, but gets it's color from the pollen the bees bring back to the hive.

Beeswax feels good to the touch and is easy to work with. It is known for it's healthy qualities. Beeswax is 100% natural, and an anti-bacterial agent. It also releases negative ions into the air, which clean and purify the air we breathe. It naturally smells great and is a excellent source for making beeswax candles. Candles from beeswax are now very popular. Beeswax is produced from the most environmentally friendly source of wax there is.

Beeswax candles are preferred in most churches. They burn cleanly, with little or no wax dripping down the sides and little visible smoke. It is also the wax that Easter candles are made from. Beeswax is recommended for use in other candles also. Beeswax candles are highly regarded in religious ceremony, especially by the Roman Catholic Church.

I love it, Dan. I've tried my hand at making candles, and I agree with everything you wrote about beeswax.

As a sort of thread drift (which you know I like to do), you, Ken, and I (+ others) been doing some Beta testing for Gretchen's Relax-a-Fire product. In a personal, private e-mail to her, I suggested the concept of combining beeswax with sawdust from either Georgia fatwood or pinon pine from New Mexico, instead of her cedar/paraffin. What's your best guess as to how this combo might work as a fire starter? Maybe you, -B.G.-, and I should start up a boutique firestarter cottage business…

"Maybe you, -B.G.-, and I should start up a boutique firestarter cottage business…"

You could make the firestarters, and I could make the fire extinguishers.

–B.G.–

So what about the honey smell + bears?

Love beeswax, but I'm not gonna hang my emergency stuff with my food.

I'm going to go out on a…carbon fibre…limb and guess luminous flame produces nanoparticles. According to my EPA chemist friend, that is the big health risk with all fires, not nanotraces of whatever toxic. In any event, once that wood fire is going, the unhealthy byproducts will overwhelm any starter toxics like an ocean over dew. I'm fine with campfire toxics in the right time & place. And pro beeswax. Just not very anti paraffin at all in the outdoors, with the quantity involved.

Thank you Bob :-)

Katherine – I use "refined" beeswax, has no smell. No need to worry about bears getting a whiff of honey :)

Gary, beeswax is too expensive to incorporate into Gretchen's campfire firestarter. She is better off working with local materials up there where she's from. I suspect it would be difficult to get sawdust from any kind of fatwood…too sticky. Google "firestarter" to see what she is in competition with…huge market, lots of competition. She could add some type of oil to bind the sawdust better so as to make it not so crumbly.

"I suspect it would be difficult to get sawdust from any kind of fatwood…too sticky."

When I try to do any sort of woodworking, about all that I can produce is sawdust.

–B.G.–

Bob, you be the man to do it with fatwood. You're the best.

All gone :-)

A Boy Scout leader bought all I had for his troops.

If I get more beeswax I'll make more available.

Thank you for your patience :-)

I made a short and sweet video showing how easy small sparks from a Mini Bic lights the Emergency Firestarting tin.

Click on the dark square to view a photobucket video. It’s dark but easy to see the ignition.