The Bayberry Candle Blessing

This bayberry candle
A gift from a friend,
On Christmas Eve
Burnt down to the end.
For a bayberry candle
Burnt down to the socket,
Brings food to the larder
And gold to the pocket.

Candles and oil lamps were our primary sources of light up until about 100 years ago.  Candles were historically made of tallow or bee’s wax.  Tallow candles were cheaper and generally more common, but they burned with a smoky flame and smelled like burning fat.  Bee’s wax candles were more expensive due to the reduced availability of bee’s wax.  When early colonists first came to North America, they discovered a use for an abundant shrub, the bayberry.  If they boiled the berries of the shrub a waxy substance floated to the surface and could be used to produce a candle.

The Northern Bayberry (Myrica Pensylvanica) Has Many Uses

I’m excited about learning this tidbit of Americana.  When we moved into our house about 10 years ago, we planted holly bushes and bayberry bushes along the porch.  As a child my mother would always have a bayberry candle at Christmas.  I didn’t realize that the candles were made of bayberries.  I assumed they were a paraffin candle and scented with the berries. I sit here today pleasantly surprised to discover the many uses of what I thought was an ornamental shrub.

It apparently takes up to 15 pounds of berries to make a pound of wax.  A Google search reveals that it could take as little as 3 to 4 pounds of berries for 1 pound of wax.  I have about a half dozen bushes, but no idea how many berries I can get off a single bush.  My bushes tend to have berries throughout the winter and I have no idea if they still do.  I quite honestly have ignored them as I walk by them day to day.  I can’t wait to get outside and try gathering a few berries.  I might be past the prime harvest with the snow flying, but I am ready to give it a try.

Pure bayberry candles are said to be brittle.  While I haven’t made any, I can now attest to this.  The few bayberry candles I have had I remember them flaking apart when handling them.  A common technique employed by candle smiths it to mix bee’s wax and bayberry wax.  This will yield a candle that is more easily handled and durable.

I was surprised to learn that the simple bayberry also has several medicinal properties.  Especially exciting was to discover that the bark and root contain an acid similar to saponin, or the chemical that helps make soap.  I hope to be able to soon report on the progress of my harvest.  Should it go well, I will most likely propigate a few more of the bushes.  They grow like weeds and I am continually fighting to keep them under control, but I will now prune to encourage maximum berry production.

This could be the triple crown for keeping the wife happy…Candles, Soap, and Pruned Bushes by the Porch.