Refining wax is quite simple but is a multistep process. Most of it goes quite easily. The component that will give you the most trouble is the cocoons (slum)
For small amounts of wax like you have there here are some ideas of what you would need:
- propane burner stand. Aka ala turkey fryer type unit. 20lb propane bottles. OR a fairly skookum electric hot plate type unit. Some folks use a steam generator.
- a steel 15 galon drum. That is a perfect size to put a 5 gal pail of wax into. Lid for said drum.
Precautions: wax is highly flammable. Setup an area outdoors. An enclosure is helpful to cut wind for better heat retention but not necessary. If enclosed use a temporary popup tent/garage type thing. And setup over a nonflammable surface well away from any of your buildings and valuables. Concrete, gravel, dirt.
Stage1 melt;
Put the barrel on the burner and put a couple inches of water in. Light the burner. Put a pail of wax in. Add at least 2inch of water in the pail with the wax. Then add water between the pail and the barrel until the pail just barely floats. Add water to the wax pail or the jacket space until it looks right. Put the lid on, crank the burner, and go do some nearby yard-work, read a book, or surf BeeMaster. When the water boils turn the burner down to a simmer. Do not ever leave unattended. If you need to leave, turn it off. Check and top off the water jacket periodically. Stir the wax in the pail periodically.
When the wax in the pail is completely melted turn the burner down to warm, hot. Wait 15 minutes for things to settle. Take the pail out of the barrel. Next take a standard 4 to 6 inch steel mesh noodle strainer. Scoop the cocoons off the top give sifting shakes over the pail and toss the slum into another bucket. That will be your slum bucket to deal with later. Get as much as you can out by scooping and sifting.
Get another clean bucket. Pour whats left, the entire melted wax pail through the noodle strainer into the new bucket. Set that aside and let cool to solidify. Grab another pail of wax and start your next raw wax bucket melt. Repeat 21 times.
Stage 2 melt.
Flip the cooled bucket upside down on the ground out in the yard and bang it till the block falls out. The bottom layer will be honey, water, dirt, debris. Dump the bucket over a pan if you want to try to salvage any of that stuff. Btw, Watery wax melt honey can a great mead ;)
On the bottom of the wax block will be grey/brown layer of crud. That is propolis resins! and pollens. Scrape it off the block to nice yellow wax surface. Keep the crud for propolis calls or compost it.
In a large pot, 16 quart minimum with lid, Put at least a 3 inch layer of water. Get an axe and chop the scraped clean wax blocks into manageable chunks. Put the scraped wax chunks in the pot with the water. Put pot on the burner. Keep the lid on the pot at all times. Melt to a slow simmer, very ever so slight gentle bubble. The water bubbling -washes- the wax. Watch the heat. Keep the lid on, yes that is a repeat keep the lid on. A BLEVE fire is a real risk here if not careful. Let bubble for at least 10 minutes. Turn the burner off. Let stand for 5 minutes. Ladle off the beautiful wax into your moulds in sizes you want to store or sale. Eventually you will get down to that thin boundary layer between last of the wax in the pot and the water. Any propolis flakes or bee bits left will be there at that layer. Dirt and pollens and fined washed by the water bubbling will have sunk to the bottom of the pot. When ladling reaches the boundary, stop and just dump out the rest. Wipe the pot clean with shop towels while the pot is still hot. Clean the pot hot. Refill with water and Repeat X times. Main wax processing done. If you are not happy with cleanliness of the wax, then you can remelt and boil bubble wash it again. Repeat until you are happy or there is no further improvement.
Step3. Slum
The washing of slum by bubbling in water is same principle. The difference is the cocoons goto the top instead of sinking into the water, and they hold wax like a sponge. So you will need a screen the size of the inside of the pot to push the cocoons down into the water layer and hold them down while the water and wax bubbles through them and washes the wax out. Get creative and make something out of steel mesh that fits snugly and works with the pot you got. Or put the slum loosely in a filter bag (paint strainer) and weigh it down into the water layer. Then same idea, after some time boil bubble washing water through the slum - all recoverable wax floats to the top. Turn burner off, let stand for a bit. Then ladle wax off the top into moulds until the boundary layer is reached. The slum wax will be darker. Greyish brown. Unless you bleach it or DE pressure filter it, it is what it is. Dump out the rest of whats in the pot below the boundary layer.
Equipment needed:
- buckets of wax
- steel 15 gal drum with lid
- sturdy propane burner stand, propane bottles
- OR skookum electric hot plate.
- enclosure to cut wind
- nonflammable surface under and around the melter equipment.
- 4 to 6 inch steel mesh strainer with handle
- 16+ quart stock pot
- paint strainer bags
- extra buckets
- clean water
- shop towels
- steel ladle with long handle and a dripless pouring lip.
- silicon or tapered plastic moulds of various sizes and shapes.
- time, patience, and most importantly a fire or skin burn safety-first attitude
That is about as simple as it can be explained. Hopefully that helps with spawning some ideas to get you started. Plan it out, get your stuff, get setup, take your time, and bee safe with it!
Btw, wax does not have to be processed. If you do not have the time or do not want to make the investment It is perfectly acceptable to dump it out in the bush as compost and fertilizer. There are many critters and bugs out there who love it and will make very good use of it. In other words there is no need to take on the job if you do not have interest in it. There is no foul for not doing so.
With 21 buckets of scrapings, you might have 250$ worth of refined saleable wax blocks at the end. Only you can decide if that is worth your time and expense to go through the process.
Topic: Processing large amounts of beeswax (Read 1784 times)