Are there any beekeepers who will be coming to the potluck who have beeswax they want to sell? I need to make up candles.

I'm a beekeeper and a soap maker. If you plan on keeping bees you won't be able to take honey and beeswax from them until the 2nd year. If someone is giving you the honey and beeswax you can use it after filtering and processing. Note: Too much honey will cause your soap to overheat and sometimes it oozes out of the soap, ruining the batch so it is best to use very little. Beeswax lip balms, creams and candles are great! There is a book on the market called "The Backyard Beekeeper" that has a few basic recipes for cream, lip balm, skin toner, and soap. Cost will depend on the cost of materials and your time. If you determine how much to charge based on someone elses calculations you may be losing money.

I make a beeswax-based furniture polish. It just has 2 ingredients- beeswax & jojoba oil. Since I add no fragrance, it is also food-safe. The formula is 3 part jojoba oil to 1 part beeswax, by weight. They need to be melted over low heat, to mix and then allowed to cool.

There are 3 ways that I can think of; dipping, molding or rolling. Dipping or molding candles requires you to melt the wax. Rolling requires you to get beeswax sheets and roll them around wicks. This is the method I use, as it is the least messy and calls for minimal equipment.