How to Make Beeswax Candles: A Beginner’s Guide

The Maker’s Studio

A block of beeswax, a cotton wick and a little patience can become something lovely. Start with one small candle, learn its rhythm, and keep the notes that make your next batch better.

This beginner guide follows a beeswax votive made in a metal mold with a removable wick pin, using supplies available from Bees Light Candles. The pin creates a channel while the wax sets; the cotton wick goes in afterward. A silicone pillar uses a different preparation method, explained below.

Choose your candle before choosing your tools

Keep batch one simple: one wax, one shape and one wick candidate. A modest project makes it easier to spot what changes between attempts. Keep a record of wax temperature, wick size and cooling conditions so you can repeat a successful batch. Testing tells you whether the finished combination burns well.

A finished votive needs a properly fitting votive holder when burned. Its small size does not make it a freestanding pillar. For containers, an attractive drinking glass is not automatically candle-safe; the National Candle Association explains the dedicated requirements for candle glass.

Your beeswax candle-making supplies

• Beeswax: our pure yellow beeswax blocks bring a golden finish. White beeswax offers an ivory-to-white alternative. Choose one for your first trial.
• Mold and pin: our metal votive mold with wick pin measures approximately 1.75 inches across the top, 1.50 inches across the bottom and 1.94 inches tall.
• Wick: a suitable tabbed votive wick, selected for your wax and finished design.
• Pouring equipment: our 2000 ml stainless steel candle pouring pitcher, plus an appropriate double-boiler setup and dedicated stirring tool.
• Measuring and workspace essentials: a digital scale, wax thermometer, catch tray, heat protection and suitable votive holder for testing.

Keep your first formula plain. Oils, dyes and fragrance introduce additional variables. Leave dried flowers and herbs outside the wax: NCA testing found combustible decorations can become a fire hazard.

Choose the right wick format

Our beeswax-coated votive wicks are 2⅜ inches long, with #2 square braided cotton and a metal tab. Their coating may be white or yellow. Confirm suitability through testing; a product name alone cannot guarantee your result.

Our square braided cotton wick spools provide loose wicking in several sizes for projects such as through-hole silicone molds. Loose wick and pretabbed wick serve different preparation methods.

What size wick should you use for pure beeswax?

Choose the candle format first, then the wick family and size. Our square braided cotton options include loose spools and beeswax-coated wicks with metal tabs. Wick length and wick size are different: “9-inch” describes the length you can trim; “3/0” or “#2” identifies a size within the square-braid family.

Understand the numbers

In our square-braid range, the sequence runs from 6/0 toward 1/0, then #1 through #6 as the wicks become larger. A 3/0 wick is not a #3 wick. Keep the slash and number sign in your notes, and do not translate these numbers into an LX, ECO or other wick series.

Our published pillar and taper starting ranges

The following ranges come from our own wick listings. Measure the finished candle’s diameter, not the mold’s outside width. These are candidates for testing with pure beeswax; overlapping ranges give you options to compare. Wax batches, shape and burning conditions can change the result.

Shop square braided cotton wick spools for cut-to-length wicking, or 9-inch beeswax-coated, tabbed square braided wicks for methods requiring a metal tab. A thick or unusually shaped candle needs its own trials. Use loose wick for a through-hole mold, or a tabbed wick for a jar or a cooled votive with a wick-pin channel.

Tealights, votives and jars

• Standard tealights: our 3/0 beeswax-coated tealight wicks are approximately 1⅛ inches long and already tabbed. Use suitable tealight cups and test the complete combination.
• Votives: our #2 beeswax-coated votive wicks are 2⅜ inches long. In the wick-pin project below, insert one after cooling and pin removal, then test in a proper votive holder. The pillar-diameter table does not replace these format-specific recommendations.
• Jars: use an appropriately sized tabbed wick and a vessel made for candle making. Measure the inside diameter where the wax sits. Jar shape and retained heat change performance, so a pillar’s size recommendation cannot establish a finished jar recipe. Contact us with your inside diameter, fill depth and wax details if you need help choosing trial sizes.

Compare one change at a time

Make otherwise identical test candles with nearby candidate sizes, label each one and use the same wax, dimensions and holder. A weak flame, persistent tunneling or self-extinguishing calls for reviewing wick choice and burning conditions. An oversized flame, heavy smoke or excessive holder heat means stop the test and reassess. Choose the combination that performs consistently through supervised testing, rather than judging only the first burn.

Make a first-batch card

Name your trial—“Golden Votive A” is enough—and record the details before heating anything. Clear notes turn a promising first candle into something you can repeat.

• Materials: wax supplier and lot; exact wick name and size.
• Shape: mold identity, finished dimensions in inches and test-holder identity.
• Process: wax weight, heating and pouring temperatures, cooling conditions and date.
• Next question: the single feature you will compare in the next trial.

How to make beeswax votives, step by step

1. Prepare the metal mold and pin

Begin with clean, dry equipment. For easier release from metal molds, use Stoner E206 silicone mold release or a comparable wax-compatible release approved for your mold. Apply a light mist to the cool mold as directed. Stoner specifies shaking the can and spraying from 10–12 inches away; work with good ventilation and away from flames, hot surfaces and other ignition sources. Follow the current can label before adding wax.

Seat the matching pin’s flat disc inside the mold, against its closed bottom, with the rod upright and centered. Place the mold on a level, heat-resistant catch tray. There is no cotton wick in the mold at this stage.

The wick-pin method forms a channel for later wicking. The mold itself holds the liquid wax; the catch tray only catches accidental drips. Clear a cooling area and keep children and pets away before heating begins.

2. Weigh the wax and melt gently

Tare your empty weighing container, then weigh the beeswax in ounces by weight or grams. A pitcher’s 2000 ml capacity measures volume; it does not tell you how much wax a candle needs. Leave a little room below the rim and record the amount of wax used so you can repeat the fill.

Use controlled indirect heat: water belongs in the outer pot, with wax in the separate inner vessel. Keep water out of the wax and monitor the water level. Heat gently and watch the thermometer, using only enough heat to melt the wax completely without overheating it. Never leave melting wax unattended or expose it to an open flame.

Pure beeswax deserves its own process. Record the temperature of each pour and compare the surface finish, shrinkage and release after cooling. Use those notes to refine the next batch.

3. Pour around the pin

Once the wax is fully melted, pour slowly to just below the rim without displacing the pin. Let the wax settle undisturbed. Beeswax shrinks as it cools; if a depression forms, leave the pin in place and top it up with a little melted beeswax.

4. Cool, demold and insert the wick

Allow the candle to cool fully and contract away from the mold. Gently ease it free without pulling on the wax or forcing the mold. Support the votive and gently press the pin’s tip toward the candle’s base until you can withdraw the pin from underneath. Feed the tabbed wick through the finished channel from the bottom, leaving its metal tab flat against the base.

Do not force a stuck pin or crack the candle. Inspect the finish and trim the exposed wick to about ¼ inch before testing the fully cooled candle.

Using a silicone pillar mold instead?

Choose a candle-rated silicone mold with an intact floor or its specified, securely fitted base assembly. A hollow sleeve alone cannot contain wax. For a through-hole design, thread suitable loose wick through the small wick opening, leaving enough at each end for securing and finishing. Keep the wick opening snug and seal any gap on the outside with suitable mold sealer; do not enlarge the hole or cut away the base.

A 15-inch wicking needle can help thread loose wick. Align any release slit and secure the mold with bands that hold the seam closed without distorting its shape. Center the wick without stretching the silicone. If poured upside down, the closed end forms the candle’s top and the pouring end becomes its base after demolding. These tools are separate from the votive-pin setup above. Do not assume a release intended for metal molds is suitable for silicone; check compatibility with the mold maker.

Making beeswax candles in jars?

For a container candle, attach the wick before pouring. Use our 200-pack wick stickers to secure the underside of a suitable metal wick tab to the center of a clean, dry candle jar. Press firmly and check that the tab is secure before pouring.

Then support the wick above the rim with our stainless steel wick-centering bar, approximately 3.9 inches long, if it fits your vessel. Keep the wick straight without pulling its tab loose. Choose your size from the 9-inch tabbed square braided wick range and confirm it through jar-specific testing.

The sticker anchors the tab; the bar supports the wick at the top. Neither determines wick size. Wick stickers are for this container setup, not for securing the removable pin inside the votive mold.

Give your first candle a proper audition

Test the votive in its intended votive holder on a stable, heat-resistant surface away from drafts and combustibles. Keep every test supervised, allow the candle and holder to cool between sessions and stop with about ½ inch of wax remaining in the votive holder. Record the flame, melt pool, smoke, wick movement and holder condition. Stop if it behaves unsafely.

Change one variable in a fresh sample for the next trial. Never swap wicks mid-test, and finish testing before gifting.

Beginner questions

What wick size should I use for beeswax?

Use the pure-beeswax wick guide above to identify starting candidates for your format and diameter. Record the full size—including the slash or number sign—and test with your actual wax and holder before committing to a larger batch.

Do I have to add coconut oil?

No. You can make a candle with beeswax alone. Our focus is 100% pure beeswax: no soy, paraffin or added oils are needed. Any change to your formula needs fresh testing.

Can I hurry cooling in the freezer?

Let a new pour cool gradually; rapid chilling can crack beeswax. Utah State University Extension recommends slow cooling. Any release treatment for a fully cooled candle is a separate, mold-specific step.

Build your own little candle studio

Explore our candle-making materials with one project in mind. For a closer look at wax color, visit Ivory & Honey. Your best souvenir from batch one is a candle you understand—and useful notes for batch two.