My eldest son asked for bees for his 16th birthday. So, in preparation, we both enrolled on a weekend “basic beekeeping” course. From there, what started as a shared curiosity soon grew into something more and I decided to try making fragranced candles using beeswax to help him fund his new hobby.

At the moment, we still source our beeswax, as our own hives aren’t quite producing enough - but that’s our long-term goal.

Working with beeswax has been a journey. It’s an incredibly dense and natural material, with all sorts of quirks - no two batches are ever the same, as the bees’ forage changes with the seasons. The learning curve has been steep: years of testing, frustration, and many tearful moments, but I was determined to stick with it. Why? Because beeswax is unique. It burns longer and cleaner than many other waxes and when lit, it releases negative ions that help purify the air by drawing dust, toxins and odours out of it.

While I love essential oils and use them throughout my skincare range, I avoid them in my fragranced candles (with the exception of my bug repelling garden candles). Many essential oils degrade at high temperatures and can release harmful compounds when burned. Beeswax also has a high melt point, so instead, I use premium-grade fragrance oils that are specially formulated for candles - safe, stable and phthalate- and paraben-free.

My signature blend combines beeswax with a touch of coconut wax to enhance scent diffusion. The result? A clean-burning, sustainable, biodegradable candle that fills your space beautifully and burns with integrity.

Since then, The Hidden Hives has grown. Alongside our botanical candles, we now offer wax melts, tealights, room and linen mists, reed diffusers, car diffusers and our new ‘statement’ 1-litre reed diffusers. We also handcraft traditional cold-processed soaps, aromatherapy shower steamers, nourishing bath tea infusions and treatment candles - all made using skin-kind natural butters, oils and essential oils.

We’re constantly evolving, experimenting and expanding our offering. If you ever need a little help choosing something special, or just want to talk scent and wax, I’d love to hear from you.

From bees to bloom - and everything in between!

Love, Karen