Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: franklie on July 13, 2019, 04:27:42 pm
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Hi there,
I've melted down and processed old wax foundations to use to wax our new plastic foundations. I melted it down in water, scraping the floating wax off the top, and poured it through cheese cloth. I've repeated this process a fair amount of times. It's still quite dark.
I can't find too much, if any, information on if it's a super no no to use this wax to wax our new plastic foundations.
Any suggestions, or does anyone have experience with using very dark wax on foundations?
Thanks in advance!
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Use it. Melt it over water, not on direct heat, as in a double boiler. Use a paint brush to apply a liberal amount of wax over the entire wax foundation. Let cool well before installing into the frame.
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Iddee is spot on, I find a three inch paint roller with a foam rubber roller more efficient than a brush.
Nico
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Welcome :happy:.
I assume that it is from your hives. So you know the source. In my opinion it is better/safer then the wax that is sprayed on the plastic foundation.
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Franklie,
Welcome to Beemaster.
As mentioned it is better to use your wax than bought wax for your hives. You say you are melting dark foundation. I assume you mean dark drawn comb. I melt down lots of brown and black wax.
Jim Altmiller
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I use a crock pot from the thrift store to melt wax of any color. To put it on foundation I really don't worry too much about cleaning it.
The bees won't care.
Paint it on any way you want, it will work fine.