Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: Frantz on June 26, 2008, 01:53:07 pm
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So I am thinking of making a solar wax melter, Is there any reason that I could not use that to harvest my honey as well. Just plop the frames in there and let it all melt out the bottom. Take the wax off the top and be good? Seems a little easier than crush and strain. I am sure that my idea is flawed somehow... Let me know.
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Heat is the enemy of honey. You'll ruin the taste.
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Ok, I knew that it sounded to easy....
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Hmmmm... Why do people use honey heaters then? I always kind of thought that it was to make the honey run out of the extractor faster. Or is this heater deal just a low heat producer?
your friend,
john
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It is primarily for low heating honey to flow easier and speed up bottling. I spoke with a guy who used to keep bees and he said he would use it sometimes to reliquify thoe honey.
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Or is this heater deal just a low heat producer?
Yes
I keep my honey below 100F, you can't do that in a solar melter.
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My solar wax melter gets above 200 degrees at times so that would defiantly kill all the good stuff in the honey. I still use it for melting down cappings and get a bunch of honey from them. I just use the cappings honey myself in cooking.
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Hey Greg, could you post a few pics of your solar melter?
F
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Here you go Frantz.
(http://secondfast.com/bees//albums/userpics/thumb_DSCN8242.JPG)
Click to enlarge! (http://secondfast.com/bees//displayimage.php?pos=-148)
(http://secondfast.com/bees//albums/userpics/thumb_DSCN8241.JPG)
Click to enlarge! (http://secondfast.com/bees//displayimage.php?pos=-149)
(http://secondfast.com/bees//albums/userpics/thumb_DSCN8239.JPG)
Click to enlarge! (http://secondfast.com/bees//displayimage.php?pos=-151)
This is my rough melt set up. I put a piece of wire mesh on the tin to catch the big pieces of junk then let the rest run in to a pan of water. The melter was built wide enough to set frames in and the rest of the sides. I had intended it to be able to take 10 frames and it does but they do not melt very well without some spacing between them so I normally do 5 at a time.
(http://secondfast.com/bees//albums/userpics/thumb_DSCN8238.JPG)
Click to enlarge! (http://secondfast.com/bees//displayimage.php?pos=-152)
This is the set up for the final melt and filter. It was not cleaned from the last time I used it. I take the pieces of wax that I made from the rough melt and place then on top of the screen box in this photo. Underneath I put tinfoil to keep the wax from running in the old messy stuff. The wax then runs off the foil onto a piece of wire mesh with a paper towel own it over a bread pan. The wax runs through and the result is clean wax.
(http://secondfast.com/bees//albums/userpics/thumb_DSCN8240.JPG)
Click to enlarge! (http://secondfast.com/bees//displayimage.php?pos=-150)
This is the "well area" where I put the pan of water or bread pan.
The whole thing is insulated with 3/4 fiberglass foam insulation. The top is not hinged it just comes off, it really is not a big deal. The top is double pane plexiglass (2 pieces 3/4 an inch apart) Had to put a spacer in the middle of the top to keep the glass in place.
Hope that helps you. Let me know if there is anything else you want to know about.
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Greg, that was (^%$&*)'n awesome. Thanks a million. I just needed a visual to be able to build one. That looks like one handy piece of equipment.
Thanks again.
F
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hey Greg, whats the purpose of the water in the pan?
your friend,
john
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If there is some honey or other debris in the wax it goes in the water and the wax floats on the water so it helps get some of the big debris out. Normally on the bottom of the wax, after it has cooled down, there is a film of junk which can be scraped off. This is all before I run it through a paper towel.
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Please repost the pics. Thanks. -james
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James,
Greg has not been on this board since 2013. He had the pictures stored on an off site web site and has since replaced them or no longer has that site.
You could try sending Greg a PM and see if he responds.
I have a solar wax melter that I built about 9 years ago and is doing its job right now. I will try to remember to take some pictures this morning when I reload it and then I will post them.
Jim
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I keep my honey below 100F, you can't do that in a solar melter.
You can extract in the sunshine if there is not a dearth. I am on my last frame of honey using a drip method for frames that are crystallized. It requires using the hive tool and scraping the cells down to the foundation. I use a coarse screen to filter out the wax and then pour the honey in glass jars. The jars are then put out into the sun and that completely liquefies the honey. Then right into the freezer. Over time I will find out how long the honey will stay in the liquid state.
BTW we are experiencing oppressive heat up here in the high eighties and nineties.
The photo links are unavailable to me also.