BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > CRAFTING CORNER
Honey in Beeswax
The15thMember:
I seem to have trouble with honey in my wax when I'm processing wax. My crushed up comb from crushing and straining inevitably has a tiny amount of honey left in it, and when I melt the wax down and strain it, I have some honey coming through the wax strainer as well. How do you separate out the honey from the beeswax?
Skeggley:
How are you melting the wax?
When I melt wax in the melter I use water to dissolve the honey and contain the slum gum.
cao:
I let my bees clean my wax cappings after they are strained. They do a good job reclaiming any remaining honey. I then melt it in my solar wax melter to get rid of any impurities(slum gum). Water in the catch pain will dilute any remaining honey.
Ben Framed:
Member I melt mine in water and strain through a strainer. All wax solidifies on top and all else beneath. I have not had problems with honey as you described, but I do not crush and strain. I have posted the following video here before, the same principle can be done on a smaller scale with a little imagination and the right size tools. I hope this will help you. By the way this is the way that I am considering to melt wax once I am at the point of having enough bees and wax to justify the trouble of building such equipment. (less the flash fire lol) I have also watched videos of Jeff Horchroff and Ian Steppler using a factory made wax melters which work grand.
https://youtu.be/0aM_F4pS5As
The15thMember:
--- Quote from: Skeggley on August 14, 2020, 09:51:16 pm ---How are you melting the wax?
When I melt wax in the melter I use water to dissolve the honey and contain the slum gum.
--- End quote ---
I used to use a slow cooker, and I still do sometimes if I have intact combs, but I have trouble getting all the wax melted with that; it's just not quite hot enough. If I put a lot in, the stuff on the top doesn't melt, and if I put in less, then it's not enough volume to separate. What I've been doing is just doing small batches in the microwave. The honey and the wax does separate well for me that way, but I was just curious if there was a more efficient method than having to rinse the honey off the wax.
--- Quote from: cao on August 15, 2020, 12:25:56 am ---I let my bees clean my wax cappings after they are strained. They do a good job reclaiming any remaining honey. I then melt it in my solar wax melter to get rid of any impurities(slum gum). Water in the catch pain will dilute any remaining honey.
--- End quote ---
I'd like to let the girls clean it off, but the weather around here in the summer is just so rainy that I can't seem to find a day when it'll be sunny enough to put the wax out. I guess I can always feed the honey back to them in jars.
--- Quote from: Ben Framed on August 15, 2020, 12:54:38 am ---Member I melt mine in water and strain through a strainer. All wax solidifies on top and all else beneath. I have not had problems with honey as you described, but I do not crush and strain. I have posted the following video here before, the same principle can be done on a smaller scale with a little imagination and the right size tools. I hope this will help you. By the way this is the way that I am considering to melt wax once I am at the point of having enough bees and wax to justify the trouble of building such equipment. (less the flash fire lol) I have also watched videos of Jeff Horchroff and Ian Steppler using a factory made wax melters which work grand.
--- End quote ---
Wow, Phillip! That looks a little intense for me, and I doubt I have either the imagination or the right size tools to duplicate anything like that! :cheesy:
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