Recovering VERY old wax

[Sutty]

I have some Very old frames (25yrs+) I have recently put through the solar wax extractor, resulting in a block of toffee-brown wax.
Is there a sensible way of purifying this further to produce more useable wax?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Karol]

Hmmm. Guess it depends what you want to use the wax for? Beeswax can degrade over time through oxidation, hydrolysis and sublimation of n- alkanes and the rate of degradation will depend on how the frames were stored. Beeswax is best recovered early and then stored sealed in a dark dry place. That way it should keep for tens if not hundreds of years. Open to the atmosphere and to light and it's likely to degrade which might not be a problem if you plan to use the wax for non bee or non human use, such as candles or furniture polish.

 

[Brown Beek]

I would repeatedly melt it over water (approx 20% by volume water to wax) then leave to cool.. When cooled scrape of the detritus from the bottom of the block. Repeat till there is no more ‘dirt’ falling out of the wax, or till happy with the colour/ clarity of the wax. That should get it good enough for use as suggested above.

 

[blackcloud]

Mitigate your lost time and energy bill and weigh it in for some foundation.

 

[Antipodes]

I have some Very old frames (25yrs+) I have recently put through the solar wax extractor, resulting in a block of toffee-brown wax.
Is there a sensible way of purifying this further to produce more useable wax?
Thanks for any advice.

I agree with the water idea suggested by Brown Beek (you have hard water there where mine is very, very soft...so I guess use rainwater). Also, try one filtration though lint cloth.

Whatever it is in the wax that makes it darker, it's seems sensitive to sunlight and lightens considerably and quickly when thin. This photo shows the colour difference in foundation in just a couple of days outside (top two are before being outside).

 

[Sutty]

That's certainly quite a colour change!
Once I've processed all the old combs through the solar melter I'll try redoing it a few times with a better filter (currently kitchen towel), that way it will get some light too.
If that fails I might try the water idea - my water is actually v soft.

 

[Karol]

That's certainly quite a colour change!
Once I've processed all the old combs through the solar melter I'll try redoing it a few times with a better filter (currently kitchen towel), that way it will get some light too.
If that fails I might try the water idea - my water is actually v soft.

It may pay to do an oxalic acid 3% wash if you plan to use it for foundation to get rid of potential microbial nasties that the wax might have picked up after such a long time.

 

[Ian123]

It may pay to do an oxalic acid 3% wash if you plan to use it for foundation to get rid of potential microbial nasties that the wax might have picked up after such a long time.

What nasties would it have picked up, and what would a wash of oxalic do. It certainly wouldn’t penetrate the surface a great deal if at all.

 

[Sutty]

I suspect the solar wax melter is hot enough to kill most things.
Does oxalic acid bleach the wax too?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

and what would a wash of oxalic do

kill any varroa building a squatter camp on the wax?

 

[Sutty]

What nasties would it have picked up, and what would a wash of oxalic do. It certainly wouldn’t penetrate the surface a great deal if at all.

I presume Karol meant hot oxalic acid and melted wax so with stirring you could expose a lot of the wax to acid.
I've been doing some reading & it seems you can bleach wax like that with oxalic or citric acid. I don't know how antimicrobial it is though.

 

[Karol]

I suspect the solar wax melter is hot enough to kill most things.
Does oxalic acid bleach the wax too?

Yes it will 'bleach' the wax but it also has antibacterial/ viral properties.

 

[Ian123]

Yes it will 'bleach' the wax but it also has antibacterial/ viral properties.

Some what disease viruses are you trying to prevent.

 

[danield]

Mitigate your lost time and energy bill and weigh it in for some foundation.

I tried to weigh in the block of wax below with Thornes last year with a bunch of much more acceptable wax but had this rejected.

 

[Sutty]

Mine is a similar colour, or even darker

 

[danield]

I think I've resigned to simply make 2 tone drip candles out of the dark wax I cannot exchange as I suspect it is not worth the time & effort to clean. Another similar idea suggested at a local BBKA meeting a few months was wax coated pine cone firelighters.

 

[Sutty]

I think I've resigned to simply make 2 tone drip candles out of the dark wax I cannot exchange as I suspect it is not worth the time & effort to clean. Another similar idea suggested at a local BBKA meeting a few months was wax coated pine cone firelighters.

I use commercial wax coated wood wool firelighters, it would be a good use for otherwise unusable wax.

 

[blackcloud]

I tried to weigh in the block of wax below with Thornes last year with a bunch of much more acceptable wax but had this rejected.

Oh dear!
Try Thorntons instead
I've seen much nastier stuff accepted at the shows (probably at a penalty though)

 

[pargyle]

You would be surprised at the difference filtering dark wax two or three times makes to the colour. I use old flanelette sheets as the filter medium. Works well for me.

 

[Karol]

What nasties would it have picked up, and what would a wash of oxalic do. It certainly wouldn’t penetrate the surface a great deal if at all.

Depends on how the frames were stored. Potential risk of contamination by rodents especially if stored in an outbuilding. Nasties could include hantavirus. Wax moth larvae can also be a source of bacterial contamination.

The oxalic acid solution is heated to melt the wax which then forms two immiscible liquid layers which if stirred with a whisk will partition contaminants into the oxalic acid solution.