If you’re a beekeeper or a candle maker, you will end up with leftover beeswax you don’t want to waste. If you and the kids like to take nature walks, you’ll probably have lots of leftover acorn caps, dried flowers, bark, pinecones, and even wild herbs collected in your baskets. Don’t throw these items way – use all these natural materials to make simple beeswax fire starters!

I’m really interested in finding and using natural materials for projects around the homestead. For one thing, these items are free of charge and only require my energy to collect them.

Another reason I like using natural materials is because it’s an opportunity to use what would otherwise simply pass back into the earth. Natural decay is an awesome process – it produces mulch, after all, which is a gardeners true friend!

However, it’s fun to step into that process and give natural items one more opportunity to serve a useful purpose. Creating products with natural materials is just another way that we can close the loop on the homestead and reduce waste.

How Do You Make Natural Beeswax Fire Starters?

There are myriad ways to make your own fire starters and they all have their merit. However, if you keep bees, you usually end up with waste wax from uncapping honey or processing out old foundation wax.

If you’re a candle maker, you also end up with leftover bits of usable material in your wax vat and bouncing around the bottom of your candle making box. No need to let these materials go to waste – make natural beeswax fire starters in an hour or two!

Most natural fire starters only require a few materials like:

beeswax*
woody products
light flammable material – cotton lint, wood excelsior, dried herbs
wick

*You can use other kinds of wax, too. Paraffin, soy, coconut, or any mix of leftover candle wax can be used to make these fire starters. Be aware that if you’re repurposing old candles, there may be color and fragrance oils included in the wax.

The process to make a natural fire starter is very straightforward and isn’t any more complicated than melting wax in a double boiler. If you can boil water, you can make these natural fire starters!

This is a great project for homeschool kids or any kid that can follow instructions. You won’t want to leave them unattended with molten wax, but kids are totally capable of assembling these beeswax fire starters.

In fact, you can make an event of it by going on a walk together to forage fire starter materials. Don’t forget your basket!

Other Helpful Wax Resources

Make 3 Different Kinds of Candle

Reuse Old Candles to Make Wax Ornament & Melts

Candle Making FAQs

How to Prepare for Bee Keeping

Make Natural Beeswax Fire Starters

Here’s a simple tutorial for making fire starters out of natural materials, including beeswax. With no dyes, no chemically produced fragrances, and an abundance of freely foraged materials, these fire starters make great gifts for the holidays or a fabulous winter homeschool project.

beeswax, acorn caps, dried herbs and candle wick fire starters

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Make a Natural Beeswax Fire Starter

Use natural bees wax, acorns, bark, dried herbs, other natural materials, and candle wicking to make great outdoor fire starters.

Prep Time1

Cook Time10

Additional Time2

Total Time3 10

Course: Homestead Family

Keyword: beeswax, beeswax firestarter

Servings:

Author: Homestead Lady

Equipment

Double Boiler Pot
Foil
Small Casserole Dish

Ingredients

8 oz Bees Wax Pellets melt the easiest
Assorted Woody Natural Materials - Acorn Caps Bark, Small Pinecones
Light Flammable Materials - Dried Moss Wood Excelsior, Straw
16" Candle Wicking Square Braid Cotton #2/0*

Instructions

Melt wax over a double boiler.
Prime the wick by dipping it into the melted wax and allowing it to cool. Cut the wick into eight 2" pieces.
Cover the inside of a small baking dish with foil - 8 x 8 is a good size.
Lay out the natural items on the foil.
Place a wick or two nestled into the natural materials at roughly 1" - 2" intervals.
Slowly pour the melted wax over everything in the dish. Double check that the wicks are still upright and that they are surrounded by wax.
Allow the fire starters to cool for at least two hours and break them into 4-8 pieces.
When you're ready to start your outdoor fire, place wood, kindling, and fire starter material as you normally would. Place the beeswax fire starter in the middle of the flammable material and light the wick. Monitor the fire and add wood as needed.
Wrap remaining fire starters in parchment paper to store or to give as gifts.

Notes

* This size wick is often recommended for beeswax candles, however use whatever wicking you have. If your wick is thin, double or even triple the amount. Twist the extra wick together or braid it.

To help it keep its form, quickly dip the wick into the melted wax to make it stiff. When making candles, this action is called priming the wick and it simply helps the wick to burn well upon first lighting.

You could also break the fire starter fragments into eight pieces instead of four. It doesn't really matter as long as each wick is approximately 1"- 2" apart. This is a very adaptable project, so make as many fire starters as you have natural materials and wax to make.

To avoid any residue left in a fireplace or wood stove, use these fire starters for outdoors fires.

Does Beeswax Make a Good Fire Starter?

Beeswax is a beautifully natural wax that melts evenly and burns efficiently. Having said that, however, if you have other wax to use up from your candle making stash, you can mix it in.

If you were making candles, you’d need to be careful about which waxes you mixed and how much of each so that you’d get an even burn that doesn’t smoke. However, for a fire starter, you don’t have to be as picky.

Bees wax is great compared to a fire starter made with something like petroleum jelly because it’s more firm and seals everything together, making it waterproof.

It is very dense, however, and will need a strong flame to get the beeswax fire starter burning. It can also leave residue in a woodstove or rocket stove, so use these beeswax fire starters for open flame fires like your outdoor fire pit.

What is the Best Wick to Use With Beeswax?

The square wicks are often used with beeswax because they’re very sturdy – sturdy enough to get through the density of beeswax! Wooden wicks would also work for these fire starters.

Truthfully, you could also use whatever wick you have and just double or triple it up to provide enough flame to get the fire going.

For more ideas on what to do with this marvelous wax, Carolina Honey Bees has a fantastic article called Creative Uses for Beeswax. Incidentally, this is a great place for bee keepers and candlemakers alike – I love this site!

At What Temperature Does Beeswax Ignite?

Heat beeswax slowly in a double boiler until it melts at 140° F/60°C. FYI, it will burst into flames at 400° F/204°C.

This is true of every kind of wax – they each have their melt and flammable point. Never, ever leave melting wax unattended.

I usually set up my propane camp stove and make candles or melt wax outside for safety’s sake. Besides, melting wax can be a messy process and making these beeswax fire starters outside is just cleaner all around.