So as a beekeeper I have lots of wax and no easy use for it; it takes time to clean and is prone to wax moth infestation unless it is perfectly clean... what to do??

I decide to embark on a candle-making mission... how hard can it be? Just get a mould, heat up some wax, pour it in, add a wick and hey presto - a candle. Well that would be wrong, wrong and wrong.

The wax has to be perfectly pure as any impurities will lead to a poorly performing candle and you have to keep the temperature low as you can discolour the wax by overheating.  And finally, a wick is not a wick. I have discovered the world of burn time, melt pools and flame sizes. 

The first thing I now know is test, test, test: you have to test the wicks to get the best performing candle with the correct burn time.  Too cold a flame and you get an unburnt column of wax left behind; too hot and the candle burns up in no time, so it's a matter of trial, error and experience to get it right. Every batch of beeswax is also different so you need to re-test from time to time to make sure your selection is correct. 

And it's best to go for a pure cotton wick without any nasty zinc stiffener; beeswax is pure - why add metals to it?