Where to Start with Petra Ahnert
Petra Ahnert is a beekeeper, artisan crafter, and the creative force behind the Beehive Alchemy brand. After a chance encounter with a beekeeper at a library in 2002, she started keeping her own hives and quickly discovered that the surplus beeswax was just as valuable as the honey. That realization led her to develop a range of techniques for turning beeswax into handmade soaps, candles, balms, creams, and decorative objects, which she shares through her books and her artisan business.
Start here
Beeswax Alchemy: How to Make Your Own Soap, Candles, Balms, Creams, and Salves from the Hive
Petra Ahnert · 136 pages · 2015 · Easy
Themes: beeswax crafting, candle making, soap making, balms and salves, natural skincare
A beautifully photographed guide to over 40 DIY projects using beeswax, covering candles, soaps, balms, creams, salves, ornaments, and more. Petra Ahnert draws on her experience as a beekeeper and artisan crafter to make each project approachable and rewarding.
Why Start Here
This is Ahnert’s first book and the best entry point into her approach to working with beeswax. It focuses entirely on beeswax as a crafting material, giving you a thorough foundation before branching out into honey, propolis, and pollen in her later work.
The book strikes a strong balance between instruction and inspiration. Ahnert covers the basics of sourcing and processing beeswax, then moves through projects of increasing ambition. The photography documents each step clearly, so you always know what the wax should look like at every stage of a project.
What makes this book stand out from general candle making guides is its broader scope. You are not just making candles here. You are learning to work with beeswax as a versatile natural material that can become soap, lip balm, furniture polish, or decorative art. That range keeps things interesting and gives you practical results you can actually use.
What to Expect
At 136 pages, this is a focused and well-organized book. The projects are grouped by type, making it easy to find what interests you most. Complete beginners will find the introductory sections on beeswax properties and basic techniques genuinely helpful, while more experienced crafters can jump straight to the projects.
The 2015 publication date is not a concern. Beeswax crafting techniques are timeless, and everything Ahnert teaches remains fully applicable today.
Alternatives
Petra Ahnert · 160 pages · 2018 · Easy
The follow-up to “Beeswax Alchemy,” this book expands the scope beyond beeswax to cover the full range of hive products: honey, propolis, pollen, and beeswax. Petra Ahnert provides projects and recipes for soaps, candles, creams, salves, and even food items using these natural ingredients.
Why Read This
If you have already worked through “Beeswax Alchemy” and want to explore the full potential of what a beehive produces, this is the natural next step. Ahnert introduces propolis and pollen as crafting ingredients, which opens up a wider range of natural remedies and body care products.
The book also includes more food-related recipes using honey, making it useful beyond the craft room. It is a broader, more ambitious book than the first, reflecting Ahnert’s own deepening relationship with beekeeping over the years.
What to Expect
At 160 pages, this builds on the foundation laid in “Beeswax Alchemy” without repeating it. Readers who start here may miss some of the beeswax basics covered in the first book, which is why we recommend starting there. But if your primary interest is in honey and propolis rather than beeswax crafting, this book can also serve as an independent starting point.