Wax conversion rate.

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Poly Hive

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Can some one check this please?

Just done a bit of research here.

Th**nes are saying for 1lb of wax they will give you 3 and 3/4 sheets of National brood. Their standard foundation sells at £7-62 per ten sheets so as they round up their sheets, very generous of them one pound of the bee-keepers wax is worth they say, £3-05 or 76.2p times 4.

Generous hmm?

I would like some one to check my calc but as far as I can see that is what it works out at.

So my £11 odd ten years ago is not looking so very dusty? 10 years ago I was selling 35 grams of wax at 90p which gives a cost of £25.71 per kilo or for easier working £11-69 per lb.

At the time it was worth more to me in clean form than traded for foundation. A deal I always thought suspect and never did.

PH
 
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Calcs. look fine to me.

This is how they make a profit and can afford a nice new factory.
 
The foundation they supply in the wax exchange is premier (£9.26 per ten sheets),not standard if that makes any difference,plus a better exchange deal is eight sheets of bs brood per pound of wax,plus pay 76p per pound.
 
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Hi PH,
1 slight flaw in your calc and also a question....
it's 5 sheets if you consider the rate for unwired which is a fairer comparison.
Also I reckon they must use their Premier stuff for this surely?

Otherwise I agree it's not a good deal. Much better to go for the conversion rather than the straight swap i.e. you pay them a fee but receive same weight in wax back again.
 
Actually this all stems from being challenged on the value of wax.

I maintain wax is an asset not a liability, and as above I was achieving £11-70 for neat figures over ten years ago. I am basing that on a small candle selling at 90p.

Four years ago I saw the same candle at £2-49! making the value of the wax £32-33 per lb.

I know how I am selling mine....

PH
 
To know if it is a good deal I think you need to know what is the weight of a sheet of BS brood. From this you can get some idea of how many sheets they can make from every pound of raw wax they are given. You can then work backwards from the retail price of a sheet of foundation and work out what you are getting for your pound of raw wax.

However, bottom line on any deal like this is an item is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, but I don't think you can scale up the price for say 35g of refined wax and compare it to the price people are getting for lumps of wax they are trading in for foundation. I've seen stuff at Stoneleigh full of dead bees and as dark as chocolate.
 
Making candles and selling them will make more money,but also involves more work...and time marketing them.....with the wax exchange for foundation,you could sell the foundation to other beekeepers for the same price or maybe a bit less,and make £8.50 per pound for doing more or less, nothing.
8 sheets of bs brood weigh around 1lb.
 
I know what you mean about the quality of some of ths rubbish that is traded in but what sparked this line of thought was uncapping, so cappings wax is what I am really discussing.

Yes on looking again I see that they do give "Premium" in exchange but let's be honest does Premium and unwired really redress the balance... LOL

PH (stuck in his chair, bored and fed up)
 
Here's a calc for the conversion....

For 1lb of wax plus £1.03 they will give you 8 sheets Premium unwired brood foundation, worth £6.83. Or in other words they pay you £5.80 for the 1lb wax. Or £12.76 per kg.

If you can buy beeswax at £12.76/kg or cheaper it's an economic way to get foundation.

Interestingly you can buy a 10kg block from Th£££rnes at £67.79

Ooops

(n.b. all amounts VAT inclusive)
 
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Why not make your own foundation ? I made my own wax mould in fibreglass using a sheet of th----s premier unwired as a mould,you paste and glass one side then when cured turn it over and paste and glass the other side.You use mod Dadant size wax to start with which gives enough overlap for trimmimg.When completely cured stick it all into boiling water which melts out the wax and separates the two plates.One plate is stuck to a tray,the other is stuck to a top plate which is attached to a pivot from the bottom plate.Molten wax is poured over the bottom plate ,the top plate is closed down,pressure is applied squeezing the two plates together and forming a perfect sheet of foundation.The wax sheet will be thicker than shop bought but just as acceptable to the bees after wiring.A bit messy but realy worth it.Utube shows the process being undertaken.
 
Interestingly you can buy a 10kg block from Th£££rnes at £67.79

Ooops


Now you've done it Chris,everyone will be buying blocks of wax from Thornes and saying keep it, as i want to exchange it for foundation.
 
Did see beeswax in a craft shop going for £16 per lb the other day.
 
Actually I think Mai££more do a better conversion price so let's hire a van and ship a load from Wragby down to Glos.
 

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