So how exactly how are ear candles made? We here so much about them, the pro's and cons etc and races varying perspectives naturally but how are they made? The majority of ear candles are and could be made with pure beeswax. Beeswax is naturally made use of by all the large major beauty offerings that we now purchase and is a commodity in itself, perhaps nearly as sort after as gold or silver in some respects.
Part of the reason that beeswax is so sort after comes down to quality but lets take a moment to consider the poor old bees! What exactly is beeswax and how do we end up with such a pure gorgeous smelling block of beeswax? If you have smelt the beautiful aroma of a block of beeswax it is quite incredible if delicious so much so that you want to eat it! It's yummy! But it took an inordinate amount of effort to become it's final product thanks to the power horse work ethic of the bee colony.
Beeswax is actually a by-product of the beehive itself. The bees that have worked so hard are only 12-18 days old and they secret beeswax from wax glands which are six to nine segments beneath the abdomen. the bees use beeswax to form a new comb capping off their ripened honey. Humans of course now use beeswax in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, candles, polish and general waterproofing. Humans will also use the beeswax to form an initial foundation comb for beehives themselves to assist with the production of honey.
The composition of beeswax is complex, but contains hydrocarbons, straight chain monohydric alcohols, acids, hydroxy acids, oils and other substances. Its specific gravity is less than one, so it floats on water. It melts at 63 C to 65 C and solidifies at 60 C to 63 C, depending on purity. Bees collect nectar, pollen and water each day to take back to the hive so that future generations can live. The raw nectar comes from flowers. They mix this with secretions from their glands, thereby transforming it and after it is deposited in the comb, it ripens into honey.
It is generally believed that for every 60kg of honey roughly 1kg of beeswax is produced so you can see why it is a rare commodity. Recently there has been a plague of disease within bee colonies worldwide and the number of countries now able to produce the finest honey and beeswax is diminishing fast. You can quite easily see how the impact on the environment affects nature so quickly - the bees are struggling to find good quality nectar and pollen form our forest areas. This is why countries such as Australia and New Zealand are still able to produce some of the finest honey and beeswax available.
So for ear Candle makers the supply and quality of beeswax is supreme and not regarded lightly. Quality ear candles are made form the very best quality beeswax and this is set by where the beeswax is sourced and from which country. So the next time you use your ear candles spare a moment for the way the candles were made, their ingredients and particularly the additional standard lengths the bees went to to gather the nectar! We have got a lot to thank them for, they're almost a protected species!
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Times have changed and modern Ear Candles respect the desire for safety. These Ear Candles perform well.
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