Bees Wax what to do

[providence wayne]

Has anyone got any tips/ideas on what to do wiith beeswax?

 

[victor meldrew]

Sell it, exchange for new foundation, make candles , furniture polish ,floor polish , practice encaustic painting. the list is endless as you'll no doubt find out

John Wilkinson

 

[Jim Lavie]

Do you mean what to do to extract and purify it or its uses?

 

[oliver90owner]

In addition to VMs suggestions.....

Some even eat it - but usually with honey in it!

Some use it as a preservative for hives (well wood really).

Lacemaking, sewing, spinning might all use some, as might saddlers, chandlers and others.

Yep. The list might not be endless, but very long!

Regards, RAB

 

[freethorpe bees]

My understanding is it is time consuming 'preparing it' - i.e. I think you have to heat it in a double pan three times or something. Once it is prepared however it is quite straightforward to turn it into a number of things, lip balm, polish, candles. Some bee books have section which gives ideas and recipes. That's one of my winter jobs!

 

[MuswellMetro]

My understanding is it is time consuming 'preparing it' - i.e. I think you have to heat it in a double pan three times or something. Once it is prepared however it is quite straightforward to turn it into a number of things, lip balm, polish, candles. Some bee books have section which gives ideas and recipes. That's one of my winter jobs!

i heat it up in a pan of rainwater with a dash of lemon juice in, once all melted i turn it off and leave to set, once set scrap all the crud of it ( legs, arms bodies and coccons) and then repeat with fresh rainwater and lemon juice

i then either sell it at Stoneiegh to either KBS or Thornes or give it to a local craft group

 

[Queens59]

MM - what does the lemon juice do? Is it just for the smell?

 

[oliver90owner]

keeps the ph on the acidic side. Alkalis saponify fats and waves and such like. Think soap on your skin.

Regards, RAB

 

[providence wayne]

Thanks all some good ideas

 

[Friar Tuck]

What value ( Not £ ) is a drawn out super. it it worth keeping a super with drawn out comb or turning it into candles?

 

[Skyhook]

What value ( Not £ ) is a drawn out super. it it worth keeping a super with drawn out comb or turning it into candles?

To rephrase the question- does anyone know how much honey is consumed to produce a kilo of wax?

 

[Polyanwood]

Someone told me that bees use 6lb of honey making 1lb of wax.

Yes drawn foundation is worth keeping.

 

[Hombre]

That would be 6 to 7kg or honey for 1kg of wax of course.

As a newbee drawn super comb is to be prized as the bees seem to get the idea to fill it much quicker than if you only have foundation to give them. Don't waste it for candles .

 

[tonybloke]

My understanding is it is time consuming 'preparing it' - i.e. I think you have to heat it in a double pan three times or something. Once it is prepared however it is quite straightforward to turn it into a number of things, lip balm, polish, candles. Some bee books have section which gives ideas and recipes. That's one of my winter jobs!

you should have attended the 'ways with wax' demo on Sunday!!