At 06:41 AM 9/11/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Why would someone want to filter their wax
>until it is a colorless white? Isn't the whole point of "pure beeswax candles"
>to present a product which is bright yellow and fragrant?

Greetings
I worked at the Knorr Candle Factory in San Diego, for many years. They
purchase thousands of tons of beeswax and it is processed for candle
making. Basically, the wax has to be graded before filtering. Raw beekeeper
produced beeswax ranges from light yellow or tan to dark brown. Some types
of wax can be made white, and some types are naturally yellow, depending on
the type of honey that was used to make the wax (by the bees). For example,
cotton honey wax came in tan or brown, but would filter out very white.
Eucalyptus or Montana sweet clover, on the other hand, can not be made
white by ordinary filtration. (It could be bleached white with sulfuric
acid, but this is seldom done, since it destroys the odor and makes it
gummy).The impurities such as pollen and propolis do contribute to the
color of wax, but some waxes are naturally yellow or brown colored.

Why white? Well, the Knorrs make 30 some different colors of pure beeswax
candles, including ivory. For certain colors, such as blue, the wax must be
nearly white. Other colors that have a yellow cast, such as brown or
orange, (or very dark ones like purple or black) can be made with yellow
wax. The Knorr's filtration consisted of melting about 1000 lbs. of raw wax
in a vat with about a foot of water. Once melted, it was pumped into an
agitator tank and various powders were added, including charcoal, clay, and
diatomaceous earth. This was agitated and then pumped through a filter
press for some time.

In a filter press, the powders are trapped between a series of aluminum
plates and the wax must pass through filter paper. Once it has gone through
this process long enough, it would be pumped into a holding tank. If hot
wax is held over a flame for a long time, it will darken as well. By the
way, they also made foundation, which is what I did there. Most of the
yellow cast wax was made into foundation, and the very white was saved for
the candles that were to be colored or sold white. The sorting of the raw
wax was a fine art that Henry Knorr had learned over the course of his
life. He was a machinist by trade and built most of the equipment used in
the manufacture of his candles and foundation.

I agree that there is nothing more beautiful than a bright yellow candle,
but there is a market for colored candles as well. Still, this may not be a
concern of the small producer who is using his/her own wax and can sell it
all uncolored.

pb