María Tajadura I Jaén, (EFE).- The main processions that go through the streets of Andalusia these days display the candles of the Illiturgitan company ‘Cera Bellido’, which produces a high-quality product based on natural beeswax with a characteristic that distinguish it from the others, such as combustion cleanliness, luminosity, long duration and no smoke emission.
Javier Bellido, vice president of the board of directors of this legendary company, has revealed to EFE the old secret of making this product -essential in Holy Week processions- based on traditional methods.
The company ‘Cera Bellido’ is located in Andújar, in the Guadalquivir valley and at the foot of Sierra Morena, an ideal place for the development of a beekeeping sector, in which their ancestors already make handmade candles.
With the seal of the Virgen de la Cabeza as a logo in homage to the patron saint of Andújar, his native land, the company was founded by Francisco Bellido Rubio, who officially registered this brand in 1889. Since then his descendants have known how to combine, for more 120 years old, the incorporation of new technologies with the strictest artisanal maintenance in the production and bleaching of virgin beeswax.
color according to pollen
Today they are the only manufacturers of virgin beeswax that do not use chemical methods, paraffins or petroleum, thus preserving excellent natural properties.
Javier Bellido is satisfied to continue maintaining the tradition of his ancestors: “the big difference, which is why we really stand out in the market, is that we use a procedure that is out of use”.
Thus, when they receive the beeswax from beekeepers, with the typical caramel or orange color, the intensity of which will depend on the pollen with which the bee has fed and with a characteristic aroma similar to that of honey, they remove the color to leave the white wax, which they achieve naturally, without using chemical products, a production procedure “longer and more meticulous but with incredible results”.
The process begins in summer, the ideal time to treat the wax because it is very hot in Andújar and the high temperatures facilitate the so-called “bleaching”.
“In the month of May we began to spread the wax on several terraces with whitewashed walls and floors of 1,000 square meters, and we are practically until September or October, which are the months in which we turn the wax into what we call ‘lump’ , which will be the base of our beeswax”.
no black thread
“It is turned around every day, watered, cleaned and it is the sun that little by little, just as it eats the color of a shirt, it ends up eating the color of the wax, leaving it white, ivory, and then it maintains all the natural properties that wax has, such as luminosity and color durability”, he explains.
Starting from the raw material of beeswax, different qualities can be chosen depending on the amount of lump or virgin beeswax that the candle contains. The star quality is virgin wax, 100% beeswax, although there are different qualities that “are still good but no longer have the exquisite purity of total beeswax”.
From there, the next phase begins and, unlike a mold that is filled to later remove the candle, Cera Bellido uses some ‘noques’ or deep bathtubs, where the liquid wax is introduced and the ‘wick’ or wick is he puts a weight under it so that it stays stretched, firm. It is introduced into the bathtub where the wax is melted, it moves in and out and at each exit it retains the wax.
“The procedure would be like a concentric tree that makes rings, or an onion and then it is also cut and painted manually, depending on the client’s demand,” explains Bellido.
The result is spectacular and is perceived when lighting the candles that do not produce smoke, black thread, it is totally clean because this beeswax does not contain petroleum, and it is much less aggressive than a traditional candle.
Customer loyalty
The characteristics of these candles also help to preserve the carvings of the Holy Week steps: “virgin wax takes great care of both the carving or the image of the Virgin itself; when it comes to cleaning it is completely different”.
This may be one of the reasons why the company maintains the loyalty of its clients, including convents, cathedrals and well-known brotherhoods throughout Spain, mainly during Holy Week in Andalusia, as well as private clients, restaurants or “spas”.
Other clients are film production companies, a sector that they entered years ago, when a film by Robert De Niro, about the Middle Ages, was being recorded in Jerez, and in which, by using candles and candelabras, it began to give problems to the camera the smoke coming out of the candle.
“It was when, through a person who knew us, he put us in touch and from that we make many films because it helps the issue of visibility when recording a film”, he points out.
Despite the notable drop in sales due to the pandemic and the bad situation beekeepers are going through because bees are dying from the use of pesticides in the field, Bellido assures that this year they are “overflowing.” EFE
