Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: carolina bee on February 02, 2009, 04:24:35 pm
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I'm sure that this subject has been discussed many times over-- My question is -- What do you ? or how do you ? feel is the most effective way to render old wax or cappings. Do you have two separate "meltdowns" ( one for each) ? Do you prefer double boilers or is the solar wax melter the way to go?? Also, what do you find is the best storage container?
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With cappings and new wax you can't beet solar. With old wax the best way to get as much wax out of the cocoons is to put it in very hot water, I don't think it needs to be boiling, and then press it. The more pressure you applie the better. Like wring out a mop. You won't get all the wax out, but you will get the better part of it.
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i suspend my wax in a double thickness of cheese cloth and melt it over a double boiler. the wax drips into the water and when it is cooled you can lift the disk out easily.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td>(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_q9cmv0DQfTA/R_6hqoZJvQI/AAAAAAAACp8/yuKoWjkioQA/s144/DSCN0813.jpg) (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/B5nb16DVNBAdgWxZIZ6-XQ?feat=embedwebsite)</td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From wax cake (http://picasaweb.google.com/pearce.km/WaxCake?feat=embedwebsite)</td></tr></table>
if the wax is really dirty, it will take more than one straining.
be careful not to put to much water in the boiler or you end up with wax boiling over on your stove. trust me. that sucks a lot!
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I have always just thrown frame and all into the solar wax melter. I suppose if you want to get more wax you could then remelt the shell of cocoons and wax like the others suggest in a double boiler. I know it sure takes alot of the work out of cleaning the wax out of the frames.
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I have been using the microwave, sounds silly but works great. just have to be careful like making soup, don't heat to fast or you get hot spots. Actually used mine for cappings still wet with honey (instead of rinsing) The wax and honey separate, feed the honey back to the bees. Seemed smarter than rinsing honey down the drain when feeding syrup is so expensive.
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I dont think I would condone feeding carmelized honey back to the bees, but I do something similar. I just make carmel flavored mead out of that honey. It ferments fine and with a small stick of vanilla in it tastes wonderful.
Your wax will float with your honey and debris on the bottom. Make sure you filter out the debris from your honey. we wait till the cakes barely solidify and removed them leaving the honey warm and easily filters thru the normal bucket filters.
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That is teh trick to the microwave, Don't cook it so hot it carmelizes...... I probably didn't explain that well.... I have kept the honey for my toast as well as sometimes feeding it back, but The trick was to warm it slow enough it didn't boil and carmelize. we use the same method for crystalized honey. warming slowly until its clear again.
Charlie
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thanks for the insight !!! for those with solar wax melter's-- did you buy one or make it?? I've seen the plans on beesource.com but just haven't tried to do it yet.
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I have always just thrown frame and all into the solar wax melter. I suppose if you want to get more wax you could then remelt the shell of cocoons and wax like the others suggest in a double boiler. I know it sure takes alot of the work out of cleaning the wax out of the frames.
This is the best way to render wax for a backyard beek. But after I do this I will do the press because in the old comb it seems an awful lot of wax is left behind.
for those with solar wax melter's-- did you buy one or make it?? I've seen the plans on beesource.com but just haven't tried to do it yet.
Try this link. beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-on-how-to-use-simple-solar-wax.html (http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-on-how-to-use-simple-solar-wax.html)
Linda has some great idea's and she presents them very well. This is an inexpensive way to build one.
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Thanks JS, what a great way render wax. I have all the components around the house so the only thing keeping me back is the weather !!! I will share this with others in our beekeepers club.
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>Do you have two separate "meltdowns" ( one for each) ?
Yes.
> Do you prefer double boilers or is the solar wax melter the way to go??
If I HAD one I'm sure I'd prefer the solar wax melter. :) but I don't. I also don't have the double boiler. :) So some water in the bottom of the pan will have to do.
>Also, what do you find is the best storage container?
1/2 gallon milk cartons.
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I really think i"m missing the lions share of wax from brood comb. In doing research, I read about keeping the cocoon/slumgum seperate to send off later to a procesor who deals with Slumgum. Now the book I was reading was old, I don't even know if slumgum processors still exist.
So what I do now is throw it all in the solar wax melter (except pollen comb gets soaked in a tub first to get rid of wax absorbing pollen) and let it melt, then every week or so I scrap off the slum gum and store it. When I have a few dozen pounds some year, I'll boil it and press it in a homemade press. But I'll not bother with it till then.
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I have used Lindas solar wax melter made from stuff I had around the house. It worked perfect and the wax is well filtered. I save slumgum for my bait hives.
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I have been using the microwave, sounds silly but works great. just have to be careful like making soup, don't heat to fast or you get hot spots. Actually used mine for cappings still wet with honey (instead of rinsing) The wax and honey separate, feed the honey back to the bees. Seemed smarter than rinsing honey down the drain when feeding syrup is so expensive.
I have done mine in the microwave for years. I crush and strain so I have lots of wax. I let the wax strain a couple of days so it looks fairly dry, stirring occasionally. Then I dump the wax into a glass bowl and pop it in the microwave with a thermometer so I can keep an eye on the temperature. Have to check on it a couple of times and stir to make sure it heats evenly.
The wax floats to a nice solid layer on the top. When cooled there will be sludge at the bottom of the wax layer which has to be scrapped off and tossed. I restrain the honey that is left in a very fine strainer and consider it "processed" since it was heated, so I use it in baking.
It is amazing how much honey is still in the wax even though it looks fairly dry.
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I put everything left after crush and strain into a 5 gal bucket that has water in it enough to cover the wax. Then I put that bucket into a large canning pot with water for double boiler effect. Once the all is liquified I pour it through a paint strainer bag suspended into another bucket. Then the strainer bag can be squeezed to get all of the wax out, careful it's hot, and the junk can be tossed.
Once the water and wax has separated and cooled you will find that most of the left over gunk is in a layer on the underside of the wax and can be scraped off. You can then melt again and run it through finer strainning if you want.
Always use water with the wax so that it doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the bucket and be sureto use something to elevate the bucket off of the bottom of the canning pot or it will melt.
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I have used Lindas solar wax melter made from stuff I had around the house. It worked perfect and the wax is well filtered. I save slumgum for my bait hives.
I have a dumb question (I am new). What is slumgum?
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"Slumgum" is all the dark crap that's left after rendering wax. It's mostly old cocoons dust and dirt and appears slimy when rendering.
Scott
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