The Hive to Home Network: Production and Distribution

This week we’re talking about the last step in the Hive to Home Network: creating and distributing HTH wraps!

We left off with the fabric coming out of the dryer and being ironed. After this, Chelsey uses a rotary cutter to cut the fabric into shape. Circles and squares have been the standard, but recently Chelsey launched cat-shaped wraps (which were incredibly popular) and is now selling rolls of wraps (so you can cut them to the size you prefer)! Is there a wrap shape that you’d like to see? Comment it down below!

With the fabric washed, dried, ironed and cut, it’s now time for the beeswax to be warmed up in the crockpot. Chelsey puts a few small drops of jojoba oil onto the each piece of fabric, and places it on the griddle. Next, the hot beeswax is rolled onto one side of the fabric, and it seeps through to give the whole wrap an even coating. Once the wax has been rolled on, Chelsey dips her fingers into a little bit of water and picks up the wrap from the very edge and spins it around so the whole wrap has an even coating of wax. The wax dries quickly, so after this, it’s placed on a drying rack, and the next wrap is underway!

After making a big batch of wraps, Chelsey will find a sunny spot in her house to start inspecting each of them. The natural sunlight allows her to see the vibrant beeswax colour, and to get a sense of how evenly distributed the wax is across the fabric. If a wrap needs a second attempt, it goes back on the griddle, so the old wax melts off and a new layer can be put on. Once the wrap has cleared inspection, its folded and ready for the next step: packaging!

The wraps are made to order, which means they don’t lay around to collect dust. Chelsey does, however, make her HTH tags in big batches. Using post-consumer boxboard (think Cheerios and crackers boxes), Chelsey makes several stamps over the box, using a custom made stamp from R&M Rubber Stamp located in Dartmouth. Chelsey cuts out each stamp from the box, and threads it onto 100% cotton twine that ties the wraps together.

Chelsey will deliver big batches of wraps to her local retailers, but if you’re not in the area, HTH wraps can come to your doorstep! HTH wraps haven been shipped far and wide, but most stay in Canada, with free shipping in Canada and the US.

That concludes the Hive to Home Network! We’ve discussed everything from the scent of beeswax to the final stamps of approval, and we hope you’ve enjoyed. If you want to read about the rest of the process and ingredients, check out these past blog posts:

- Beeswax

- Jojoba Oil

- Fabric