Looking for some help with some bee's wax

[Ed Brooks]

My brother in-law just had some bee's removed from an old shed. He gave me a ball of comb about the size of a soccer ball(most of the honey removed).  My question; what do I do to take care of the wax. My thought was to put it in a pot and melt it all down and stain it out. Does this sound right? Will the honey and wax separate? Thank you for any help. Ed

[bowtarist]

Old crock pot works good.

[Thesquirrelslinger]

I have heard that the wax will float out of the honey... but i have never tried it. Strain it through cheesecloth.. or window screening... i have tried that.
Double boiler made by filling a 16 oz or so can with the stuff you want to melt(Make sure its clean!!!) and put it in a pot full of water. its a lot easier than trying to clean out solid wax from a crock pot.

[MrHare]

If it's brood comb it'll probably have a lot of gunge in it - larva cocoons and faeces mostly. If it's brownish you'll definitely need to strain all that lot out through a cloth. Get the cloth wrapped comb under the hot (not boiling) water, and squeeze it through with something like a flat piece of wood on the end of a stick. The wax will all rise to the surface and once it's cooled down you can just lift the solid wax out. It's never going to be food grade wax, but it'll be ok for wood.

[Ed Brooks]

Thanks for the feed back, looks like I'll be getting my camp stove out soon. Ed

[bowtarist]

its a lot easier than trying to clean out solid wax from a crock pot.

You tried that have you squirrely?

I have a crock pot just for wax.

Ed make sure you watch what's happening. Wax is flammable.    dp

[Ed Brooks]

Ed make sure you watch what's happening. Wax is flammable.    dp
[/quote]

Thank you for the heads up Bowtarist. I will  doing this outside now for sure. Ed 

[Don]

I melt mine down in a double boiler, slowly.
Then strain through cheese cloth.

[Thesquirrelslinger]

actually yes, i have...

Lets say mom wasn't exactly happy when i got wax into her crock pot... it was just a tea candle... but still... I was 6. But I do remember it was almost impossible to remove with normal stuff.

[bowtarist]

You remove it when it's warm and pour into dixi cups or similar mold.  Like I said, use an old crock pot.  I'm also fairly certain that if left to cool in crock it will shrink and be able to be "pried" from the sides and come out, but it will not be screened then unless that was done earlier. Just my thoughts, dp

[Ed Brooks]

I ended up putting it in a coffee can and making a double boiler.
I have got it melted and strained twice through screen. this had a lot of junk in it to say the least, not near as much wax as I thought I'd get. Think I need to strain one more time through cheese cloth this time.
I had lots of company while doing this, there is a hive about 20yrds from where I was melting it. They have cleaned up every drop I spilled. Ed

[bowtarist]

Back in the old days of bee hunting, hunters of the bee would build small fires and get a rock hot, then put a piece of bee comb on the hot rock and let it melt. Supposedly bees would come from all over in search of the smell then the hunter would follow the bees back to the hive. It does not surprise me that what happened to you happened.   

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dixie cups work great to pour it in. Its a great size to carry around with you or rub on a bow. Charlie used an old camp coffe pot and a Coleman stove. Then he poured it through a flour sifter into the cups. I had at least 30# of the same stuff I gave away. Its very sticky and awesome bow string wax.

[Fred Arnold]

Ed, I melt and strain a lot of beeswax. For my final filtering stage I use inexpensive cone shaped paint filters. You can get them almost anywhere paint and stain are sold, (look similar to a #4 cone shaped coffee filter). I dip a large ladle with a pour spout into the hot wax and pour thru the filter into my smaller containers. I'll try to get pics of the ridged filter holder that I rigged up to support the paper filter.

[kevinnator11]

You can get the small plastic cups for rinsing your mouth out near the toothpaste in most stores.  I melt the down, fill the cup up about halfway, let it cool then cut the plastic cup off and use those on string or leather edges for burnishing.