What's that on my beeswax??

The first hint of cooler weather in the autumn always gets me to thinking about beeswax candles and beeswax candle making. I had a fellow candle maker write me and ask "Several years ago, I acquired some beeswax sheets from a friend. They have been sitting with some other, long-forgotten, craft items in my basement and now appear to have a film (possibly mildew?) on all of them. My confusion/question is: even the sheets enclosed in plastic seem to have this film (which negates the mildew, I would assume). Should I be able to use them, or should I toss them out?"
I wrote her back saying that this was most probably "bloom" - and is actually a sign that the beeswax was pure and of good quality. As beeswax ages, often a white, powdery substance will appear on the surface. Beeswax is pretty amazing stuff.
Read more about bloom and beeswax.
Fun beeswax candle making projects.