I had my first candle class of the season this past Thursday. We're going to do candle classes on most Thursday eveings in November and December. I only had two students at my first class but that wasn't a bad thing. I actually need to dip candles and pour candles for the store which is easier to do if all of the candle classes aren't full to the brim. I also had some minor technical difficulties in keeping the dip tank supplied with liquid beeswax. As a consequence the class ran later than usual and it was past 10:30 p.m. when we finished. However, I now have a good stock of hand dipped tapers for the store and I've gotten the kinks out and found everything I need for the candle classes.
I really love to dip and pour candles. Pure beeswax gives off a heavenly aroma so the entire shop smells wonderful when we dip candles. For me dipping candles it is one of life's simple pleasures. Its hard to believe that in colonial days dipping candles was a job often relegated to children. I suspect the real reason it was often a "kid job" was due to the fact that they were usually dipping tallow candles (not exactly a wonderful aroma). I think hand dipped beeswax tapers are the ultimate for homemade Christmas gifts. Combined with some honey it truely is the gift of "sweetness and light".
On the subject of sweetness and light, that line comes from a Jonathan Swift quote. "We have chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light." I purchased a book by that title a few weeks ago at the state bee convention. The full title is "Sweetness and Light, The Mysterious History of the Honeybee", written by Hattie Ellis. I had been wanting to read it for some time and one of the venders at the convention had it on sale. I'll have to do a book review for the blog after I've read it.
