Light through beeswax

The hives sit at the edge of a forest that has not been sprayed in forty years. The wax comes out amber. The tapers are made one by one, dipped and cooled, dipped and cooled.

It takes eleven coats to build a taper to the right diameter. The process takes most of a day. The maker does twenty-four at a time, moving down the row with a ladle, returning to the beginning before the first has fully cooled.

They burn for four hours. The scent is faint — honey and something green underneath it. Nothing is added.