Used my steam wax thingy today!

[CliffDale]

Well, I made a steam wax extractor and tried it out for the first time today.
It worked a treat. I used an old varroa floor and a brood box. Steam supplied by the wall paper stripper steam.

Great success!

 

[Tom Bick]

Looks like a result I was thinking of one myself so how clean did the frames come out and how long before the wax started to run.

 

[richardbees]

Good result Cliff, and I like the back garden milieu!

- are the frames totally ready for re-use i.e. the grooves?

richard

 

[CliffDale]

The wax started to flow within 5 minutes of the steam starting. It took about 15 to 20 mins for the wax stopping flowing.

The frames came out reasonably clean but needed a scraper to remove the remainder of the gludge. Scraping whilst the frames were hot was easy.

 

[CliffDale]

Good result Cliff, and I like the back garden milieu!

- are the frames totally ready for re-use i.e. the grooves?

richard

Yes. Scrape the gludge out of the grooves whilst still hot. The only thing I have to do now is to prise off the top bar that is nailed on with gimp pins.

Enjoyed doing this today but got burnt shoulder in the sun

 

[chrismcd]

Do not do it where the bees can smell it!

I would be very wary of doing steam extraction at this time of year.

It is a bee magnet and they come and commit suicide in the hot run off.

I do mine in the dead of winter - much safer to the bees - and you do not have millions of helpers getting in the way.

One other point - there is a sweet period, after they have cooled down a bit, when you can scrape lots of wax and propolis off the frames very easily and have them beautifully clean

 

[Tom Bick]

Did it remove the propolis from the frames or just soften it

 

[CliffDale]

Did it remove the propolis from the frames or just soften it

I would say softened to a tomato sauce consistency. Quite easy to remove but had to be scraped off.

 

[YorkshireBees]

I would be very wary of doing steam extraction at this time of year.

It is a bee magnet and they come and commit suicide in the hot run off.

I do mine in the dead of winter - much safer to the bees - and you do not have millions of helpers getting in the way.

One other point - there is a sweet period, after they have cooled down a bit, when you can scrape lots of wax and propolis off the frames very easily and have them beautifully clean

After making the mistake of doing it last summer and being besieged by bees from the nearest hive I do it in winter!

 

[CliffDale]

The bees soon sniffed out the wax. I ended up wrapping an old towel around the the front where the wax flowed. This kept the bees out and seemed to help keep the wax hot as it filled the moulds.

 

[richardbees]

Thanks Cliff - that's the next gizmo on my list!

(I'm bored with solar wax extractors)

richard

 

[CliffDale]

Thanks Cliff - that's the next gizmo on my list!

(I'm bored with solar wax extractors)

richard

When I made the extractor, I put a sheet of aluminium under the mesh floor. The aluminium formed a slight V shape to allow the wax to flow to the escape hole.

You can just see the aluminium through the escape doors, one on each side of the 'V'.

Cliff

 

[richardbees]

I use those cheapo 'Chinese steel' baking trays from the 99p shop

rich

 

[Torq]

I've made one out of a wine fridge on it's back so you can see in the top through the double glazed door. 12 national brood frames fit perfectly.

I mistakenly left 11 extracted super frames in it a couple of days ago and forgot to steam them straight away. It's been besieged by robber bees since!! I'm hoping they'll find the bait hive I have on the flat roof near it.

The robbers are not my bees, mine are over 2 miles away and they would have to cross the shannon to get to it.