Can I safely use honey strainers to strain wax?

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ugcheleuce

Field Bee
Joined
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Location
Apeldoorn, Netherlands
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National
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7-10
Hello everyone

I, too, have a bucket full of old comb to be converted to wax. I don't have straining cloth, but I do have two metal wire honey strainers (one fine and one coarse). Is it safe to strain the wax through those? I mean, will it damage the strainers? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks
Samuel
 
You must have an old bed sheet, pillowcase, dusts sheet even if it takes your fancy some old tights laying around the place.
 
Anything you use for processing wax will be ruined for any other use afterwards. So don't use your honey strainers if you want to use them again for straining honey or anything else other than wax.
 
They will, of course, sieve or strain the wax and rid it of larger bits but it will be no substite for a filter to remove the finer particles - well, they will when the wax needs to run through/past the larger particles.

Are these strainers good to go in a dishwasher? If not, they won't do so well in melted wax.

I simply use a sieve to separate cocoons, etc and then progress from there.

My advice would be to keep your honey strainers for honey and get another sieve for wax operations, but up to you of course.
 
I have found that melting it and allowing it to run into cold water seems to work quite well. The wax seems to separate from the trash quite well and any honey residue washes off.
Or I put my wax in a very fine nylon mesh bag, I buy dry sticks in them over the winter to light my three log burners. I put the bag full of wax in my solar melter in the summer and the trash stays in the bag, quite good....
E
 
beasn tin or similar with both ends cut out - stretch a couple of layer of wife's stockings over it and hold in place with a rubber band - pour molten wax through it - find that gets the wax more than clean enough for most uses - if you want something really good, melt the finished product once again and pass through a layer of lint
 
Hello everyone

I, too, have a bucket full of old comb to be converted to wax. I don't have straining cloth, but I do have two metal wire honey strainers (one fine and one coarse). Is it safe to strain the wax through those? I mean, will it damage the strainers? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks
Samuel
See my pictures of straining beeswax here http://tinyurl.com/qya7cxk
 
Even better, look at the forum video section for 2 videos by polyhive back in May 2010.

That is the way to do it. More expensive (fossil fuelled) over a solar melter but quick and easy once you have the kit.

Now, straining or filtering? I associate straining with removal of coarser particles and filtering as removal of somewhat finer particles (or, indeed, all particulate matter).
 
Thanks Oliver.

My kit is the sort of project an assoc might consider having made for their membership.

Making a solar unit is pretty inexpensive too.

PH
 

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