By Bonnie L. Grant There are many types of astilbe from which to choose. Noted for their finely dissected foliage and airy plumes, these shade lovers brighten any dark area of the garden and are notably easy to grow and cultivate. Among the many astilbe plant varieties are those with flowers of red, white, pink or lavender, but also different tones of foliar color. Peruse any plant catalogue and you will find astilbe varieties for almost any taste. Pay attention to planting zone, as some astilbe plants are more hardy than others. Choosing Your Astilbe Varieties I have deep affection for astilbes. They provide me with a nearly foolproof solution for the shady and low light areas of my garden. As an added bonus, there are many astilbe plant varieties from which to choose. Foliage hues range from bronze to deeply green and even reddish tones. The size and hardiness
This year I began a beehive, but didn’t get to harvest any honey for myself. The bee population outgrew their home and I lost half my bees. The remaining ones only produced enough honey for themselves, so I will have to wait until next year. I was looking forward to having my own raw organic honey, honeycomb, and wax products from my own hive. What a bitter disappointment! But, a fellow beekeeper offered me his honeycomb after he took the honey from it. Of course, I accepted.
My husband picked up the big box of honeycomb on his way home from work. Inside the box was a large plastic bag, filled with a gooey, sticky mess. Just pulling it out of the bag was enough to coat me in honey up to my elbows. It was also kind of dirty looking. Then I noticed bugs, like ants, moths, and dead bees in it. I always thought honeycomb was all a pretty yellow or gold color, but its not. This had some yellow comb, but also had brown, orangey, and even some black streaks running through it. I was a bit skeptical at this point, unsure if this was even usable material.
decided to make a go of it despite my concerns. I really didn’t want to tell the beekeeper I threw his honeycomb out. I’d feel guilty. So, I cleaned my deep kitchen sink really well and filled it with warm water and added the honeycomb, piece by piece. I washed, rewashed, and rinsed it several times to just get rid of the honey residue. Then I put a pot with an inch or so of water on the stove on low and added the comb. I watched it start melting and kept adding more until the pile in my sink was all in the pot.
As the honeycomb melted, it “released” the dead bugs, impurities, and strange colors I had seen earlier. The debris went to the bottom of the pot and the wax floated to the top.
When it was time to pour it into a clean container, I used an old Cool Whip tub. If I melted it or damaged it, who cares? I found a funnel, washed and dried it, then stretched clean knee high panty hose over the funnel. That would keep any floaters that still remained, out of the wax. I made a small indentation, a little “well”, in the middle of the panty hose so the wax wouldn’t run off the sides. I held my funnel in one hand, and poured the wax with the other. The wax did cool a bit and plugged up the nylon, but I just moved it over a little bit each time it happened. I’m very glad I had the nylon there, especially at the end, because it caught quite a bit of “sediment” from the bottom of the pan.
Because I wanted small cubes of wax, I hunted around for some containers to use as a mold. Fortunately, I had some one ounce containers with lids that I bought from a garage sale. They were leftover from a bridal or baby shower. I thought I could put them to use one day. They were perfect, and only .25 for all 10 containers! 
