Bee Bright began making beeswax candles over fifteen years ago as Banghart Bee Products. But the real beginnings were in San Francisco, California, 1968. It was on a walk in downtown that David Banghart gave his future wife, Catherine, a pair of beeswax candles as their first gift of courtship . She had never seen beeswax candles before and was smitten, by the man, the gift, and the honeybee. The simple beginnings of lifelong romance.

Catherine working with the bees

In 1971 they stayed three months at an apiary (honeybee farm) in Tonatico, Mexico. There they learned many of the fine points of beekeeping, including the painstaking skill of creating and harvesting a crop of royal jelly.

On their return to California they became beekeepers and are to this day. In 1979 Catherine had the incredible fortune to be selected to edit Mastering the Art of Beekeeping (Unity Press), the second book by the renowned treasures of beekeeping, Ormond and Harry Aebi. After the many precious hours she spent with the authors poring over the manuscript, she had, by osmosis, become a master beekeeper.

By that time candle making had become a primary research project of the Bangharts. It is a feat of exactitude to make a pure beeswax candle with an untreated cotton wick that burns correctly, neither smoking, nor dripping. The physics of it all took years. Even wick has direction and the wax flows differently each way (the first pairs they marketed extensively had a continuous wick that the customer cut to separate them. It was a nice touch, but each candle in the pair burned differently.)

After mastering the candle making process research began on coloring beeswax candles with hard to find rich tones and shades. Deep burgundy, forest green, moss green, and others were created.

Carefully pouring pure beeswax.

But Catherine wanted some scented candles and she didn't care for the commercial candle fragrances. Experiments began as to whether it was possible to fragrance beeswax with pure essential oils and natural botanicals that would do justice to the beeswax and its source, the nectar of flowers. They first marketed Lavender Beeswax Candles in 1988. Rosemary, cinnamon and Lemon Verbena soon followed. Today Bee Bright makes solid beeswax candles in six all natural fragrances, including Frankincense and Myrrh.

The marketplace has changed a lot since then. The variety of candles, and blended beeswax candles, is staggering. But there are precious few available made with extreme care from local sources in a respectful workplace. Happily there are many who seek the excellence Bee Bright strives to produce. Bee Bright candles have been featured in Bon Apetit, and have been in the catalogues of Smith and Hawken, Gumps, Saks, and Illuminations.

As a point of pride Bee Bright candles are made with the intention and hope of bringing delight to the place of their burning.

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