Gleaning wax from hive for crafting

[Jen]

If I have gleaned wax from a hive and it has dead larvae in it, can it still be rendered for crafting?

[LazyBkpr]

yep. When you render the wax they will get filtered out on the first rendering. If you boil your wax they may even be pretty tasty!!!   

   Older brood comb really makes a mess when rendered. As far as I am concerned the small amount of wax you get is not worth the incredible amount of cocoons etc that you have to scrape/filter.  Newer brood comb isn't as bad.
   For general use I usually render and filter twice. If my wife wants wax for her candles I will do it three, maybe even four times to get the wax as clean as possible.

  First render I use window screen to filter the wax. Let it harden overnight, scrape the bottom clean.
   Second render I use cheese cloth. Let it harden, scrape the bottom clean.
   If making wax for wifes candles;
   I render a third time and use a t shirt or similar material to filter the wax.  T shirts like to absorb a lot of wax though, so you will lose a bit.

[Perry]

 "If making wax for wifes candles;
   I render a third time and use a t shirt or similar material to filter the wax.  T shirts like to absorb a lot of wax though, so you will lose a bit."

That sound like a fantastic idea!!
And when you're done, and you need to replace that old t-shirt, think about replacing it with a Brand New WWB Forum T-Shirt!

Shameless Plug!

[LazyBkpr]

LOL!!

  store will only be open for two weeks though.. I probably should order three or four.   

[Perry]

LOL!!

  store will only be open for two weeks though.. I probably should order three or four.   

I did! 

[pistolpete]

I played with wax quite a bit last fall.  Found it to be very time consuming for the amount of wax I got out of it.   My finding was this: in the future I am not bothering with anything of marginal cleanliness.   Freshly drawn comb and washed cappings give a nice clean product suitable for lip balms and lotions, everything else has too much cocoon material and propollis to get it clean with DIY methods. 

[LazyBkpr]

LOL!!

  store will only be open for two weeks though.. I probably should order three or four.   

I did! 

   You ordered them already??

[Perry]

No, the store isn't open yet. I "pre-ordered" with Riverbee. We needed to know that we had at least 24 shirts that would be purchased before this is all set up.
Once the store is open, all the folks that "pre-ordered" with River can then actually place their orders through the store, using whatever method they choose for payment and providing shipping details.
It's important that those that said they would, do so, otherwise when the "store" closes, anything less than 24 will be charged to "someone", and after all the work put into this it wouldn't be fair. We are above the 24 by a fair margin so I am hopeful that it doesn't become an issue. This is a pretty solid group we have here on this forum. 

[kebee]

 We will be getting a head up when it opens right, I hope sp and be kelp up in post all the time.

Ken

[riverbee]

yes ken, i will post an update on this in the t-shirt thread to bring everyone up to date, all will be notified, and we will have an 'ad' on the home page.

sorry we sidetracked your thread jen, but perry's shameless plug was rather funny! 

i use a solar wax melter.   the solar units work very well, and you can run your wax through as many times necessary to filter and bleach it to a certain degree. although pete said this " everything else has too much cocoon material and propollis to get it clean with DIY methods."

unsure how pete is rendering his wax, but my own method, all of the crud is filtered and left behind.

[crazy8days]

If the wax is really old and dark I will use it in swarm traps.  But, any other comb wax I do the same as Riverbee.  Solar melter.  The crud goes in a can for later use as fire starters and the clean wax to my products.  I will use the honey wax capping for my lip balm though.  I use it all!

[Jen]

Cool! And before I have enough wax to do anything with, I have found that it get real midewy. So should I keep the wax in the freezer until I'm ready to make stuff?

[crazy8days]

I've never had problems with mildew.  I've kept it in ziploc bags in the fridge.

[Jen]

Okee ,Thanks 

[riverbee]

what crazy said jen, throw the wax in a ziploc bag, squish the air out and throw it in the freezer until you are ready to render it.

[Woody Roberts]

I don't have a solar melter but I do have a heat gun. I've layed a piece of window screen over a small bucket and pile comb on top. I just run the heat gun over it until the wax runs off.
Old brood combs will make a darker colored wax but most of the cocoons will stay on top of the screen.

Crush and strain, cappings etc I put in a metal can with enough water to cover it good and cook on low heat until it all melts. Turn the heat off and when cool I have a block floating on top of the water. Lots of settlements will be on the bottom but lots of bee hair will still be in the wax.

I've filtered thru a window screen but it won't get all the hair. I'm gonna try some pantyhose sometime when I can catch the little woman not looking.

I cast most of my own bullets so I use mine for bullet lube. A little bee hair will run right down a gun barrel.