Favorite Recipes

Each of our products were developed after a few days of experimenting. During this time we created many different recipes and discovered others that have become our favorites. One of our favorites is Watkins Vanilla Honey Butter.

 Vanilla Honey Butter

1/2 cup butter or margarine (we prefer real butter)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. Watkins Pure Vanilla Extract

Whip butter and powdered sugar together until smooth; stir in honey and vanilla. Enjoy! (Makes 3/4 cup)

We also have a recipe for beeswax hand lotion, and homemade elderberry syrup available at our website;  www.littledrippers.com 

 

Homemade Lotions and Balms

We (www.littledrippers.com) get asked frequently how to modify a lotion or balm recipe to adjust the consistency.  We have found that the simplest way to make a lotion or balm either stiffer (less greasy) or softer is simply by adding or reducing the portion of hard wax (we only use pure beeswax). 

Start with twenty to twenty-five percent less wax than called for in a given recipe.  The wax can always be added to stiffen the product but once you add too much you may as well start over.  Let your product cool to room temperature and try it out.  If it is too soft then melt it all down again and add another ounce or half ounce of wax and test it again. 

We have been able to make significant changes in the texture/consistency of our lotions and balms by this simple procedure without waisting any product. 

 

Working With Beeswax

Beeswax is an incredible substance and one that is a pleasure to use.  It’s relatively low melting point of 62-6 degrees Celsius (143-151 Fahrenheit) makes it easy to liquefy and with a flash-point well above the melting point (254-274 degrees Celsius – 490-525 degrees Fahrenheit) there is a plenty large margin of error.  The biggest problem that we have found is getting it clean enough to really make a beautiful candle, lotion, or soap. 

Even the so called clean, filtered beeswax just doesn’t make that beautiful, golden yellow with its slight iridescence that makes beeswax so attractive.  So, how then does a simple hobbyist make a premier beeswax product without the thousands of dollars of equipment to really purify the wax?  The easiest way is to find a fine quality wax provider and purchase it from them. An easier, and far less expensive, way is also available.

We (www.littledrippers.com) have found that a crock pot on the warm setting is capable of holding beeswax at just above its melting point.  This allows the melted wax to stay liquid for an extended length.  Just be careful not to get the wax much above the melting point (the low setting may be too much) or it will start to darken and burn after several hours.  After the wax has been liquid for two or three hours you will notice (unless you found an excellent wax provider) dark brown particles covering the bottom of the pot.  We have yet to find a filter that is effective at removing these particles without getting into the high cost pressure filters. 

In reality, however, these particles are not a problem for the hobbyist.  Simply dip your wax from the top surface being careful not to stir up the bottom, dirty layer.  This upper surface wax is as clean and beautiful as any we have ever seen.  We just keep adding wax to the pot and keep dipping from the surface.  Once the pot gets too full of the “dirty wax” we empty it into a separate container and start over.  The “dirty wax” can be filtered and will produce a little good wax but we found it isn’t really worth the effort.  Instead, we us the “dirty wax” to make fire-starters.  We will explain this in a latter post.
 

 

Beeswax Candle Bloom

Beeswax is a joy to use and we use a lot of it in making our Beeswax Lotion Bars, Body Butter, and candles.  We must admit, however, that the candles are our favorite.  There is just something about the unique aroma of beeswax and the inviting yellow color.  We (www.littledrippers.com) have been making beeswax products for several years now and have come to really enjoy a phenomenon that occurs with beeswax.  It is called “beeswax bloom”. 

This is a completely natural process that occurs with pure beeswax.  The beeswax or candle in this case develops a white almost powdery coating.  We’ve yet to see it on candles in stores and assume either the candles aren’t pure beeswax or they sell them before it can develop.  From our experience it takes about nine months to get beeswax bloom on our candles.  We think it adds an extra touch of character to any candle.  Our favorites, however, are the snowman and Christmas tree.  These candles look incredible with the whitish dusting over the inviting yellow wax. 

If you do have beeswax that has developed this blooming effect and don’t want it (it doesn’t impact how the candle burns or smells) don’t fret.  It is easy to get rid of if desired.  Simply wipe it off or better yet (in our opinion) use a blow dryer and just lightly melt it away.  It adds a little extra sheen to the candle when melted slightly with the blow dryer and completely disappears.

Our recommendation, however, is to cherish this natural characteristic of pure beeswax candles and help educate people to appreciate it.  We get so accustomed to everything being perfect and the same that we are cheating ourselves of many of the natural wonders that could be enjoyed.  Let nature back into our lives and lets learn to appreciate the natural wonders that make beeswax candles (and other natural products) so unique and enjoyable. 

 

Warm Day for the Honey Bees

November 22 was a warm day here in north central Pennsylvania.  The thermometer hit over sixty degrees and was a beautiful day.  Mikayla was outside playing when a honey bee started flying around her head.  I hadn’t seen a honey bee for about five weeks so thought I’d go check out the activity.

All four of the hives were busy with activity.  The bees obviously weren’t collecting nectar as the flower sources had long since frozen.  They did, however, have their pollen sacks full of brilliant yellow pollen.  It looked very much like golden rod pollen but I’m not sure where they would be getting it.

I have been a little concerned that my bees don’t have enough honey stores to get them through the winter.  With the warm weather I thought I’d help them out and fed two of the hives some remaining honey syrup I had made.  This was the first time I personally witnessed robbing activity.  The hives became extremely active and I noticed many fierce battles at the hive entrances.  In response I shut down the entrances to about 1/2 and inch and after about five minutes things seemed to be much more normal.

These warm days that allow the bees to break their cluster concern me.  I don’t know if it is factual but I get concerned that they eat more honey when it is warm and it will actually create a bigger problem when Spring comes.  On the other side, however, it was good to see that all four hives were still alive and apparently doing well.

If you are interested in more details on our honey bees we are putting photos and more detailed descriptions on our web page www.littledrippers.com .  Look for the working with honey bees page. 

 

Help Develop Little Dripper’s Business

Starting a business is new to us.  We love working with honey bees, making delicious syrups, honey and beeswax products like our lotion and candles but are new to running a business.  Being in the rural parts of central Pennsylvania, success on the web is essential to making our business work. 

We have a web page, www.littledrippers.com,  and we think it is great.  A lot of people have visited it (we passed 100 unique visitors in November so far) and many have purchased our products.  So far, however, all those who have purchased items were people we already know personally.  We are so grateful to them for supporting us!  We just don’t know why the others aren’t trying our products. 

We are hoping you can help.  Join us in this venture and hopefully through your suggestions and help we can make a wonderful business grow and develop.  We will periodically post our progress on this page but hopefully we can get a good discussion on how to start up a business, better develop the web page, improve marketing efforts, and other start-up business topics on the Little Dripper’s Business page.  Come join us on the Little Drippers’ Business page and share your input and knowledge.

Looking forward to hear from you.