Wax Harvesting

[nickhodge]

Hi all...again!

As you may realise, I am at the end of my first beekeping year.

I intend to re-cycle my brood combs over three years effectively replacing one-third from start of next season replacing it with fresh foundation.

I am interested also in making candles, lip balm and hand cream from this and what better time than now? (Xmas)

My question I guess is, when and how do people harvest this for similar uses (even if only re-cycling to foundation) without disrupting the bees 'functionality' too much and making them draw comb all the time?

For example, should I leave it this year and use my 1/3rd of frames re-cycled? Should I sacrifice my frames from which I extracted honey this year? This however would mean the bees having to draw fresh comb in the supers before laying down stores next spring?

Hope that makes sense and thank you in advance

 

[kevrhcfag]

New aswell but my understanding is super comb doesn't need to be changed anywhere near as frequently as brood comb.

You have 2 colonies so was that 2 Nucs from last year (bought in), if thats the case all your frames maybe last years or upto 10 maybe 2 or 3 years old this coming year (if not older).

Its a simple choice really what do you want more, "products" for Christmas or Super Comb for next year? Its too late to get them to draw comb now.

 

[eleanor20]

I didn't use an extractor this year, I used the crush and strain method as I wanted the wax as much as the honey. From a super I got just under 20lbs of honey and less than half pound of wax.
Brood wax tends to discolour so you would not want to use that for candles or cosmetics anyway.
Also take care not to heat your wax above 80deg when processing it as this discolours it too.

 

[simoncav]

The best quality wax comes from your cappings, then super frames. Dont bother with brood frames as they are typically dark, dirty and too infused with propolis, old cocoons and pollen etc.

We operate on a three-year replacement cycle for our brood and super frames. Mark the top of each frame with the month and year you first put it on the hive, so you instantly know its age and can plan accordingly. Brood comb recycling is vital to prevent the build up of disease and pesticides - You never ever see AFB/EFB shown on new comb - it's always black and dirty.

We also cut foundation into starter strips of about an inch or less and let the bees do the rest to guarantee better quality comb.

As long as you feed the bees with syrup when you want them to build comb you take some of the stress away caused by the high consumption of food to generate wax.

 

[itma]

... should I leave it this year ...

It is at least six weeks too late to think of changing brood frames this year.

Drawn comb for supers is one major asset that beginners lack - don't throw it away!

 

[susbees]

Super frames last many years if looked after well - there just isn't the build up of pathogens you get in brood frames so why waste them? A pound of wax takes 8-9 or so pounds of honey in energy to draw it and you'll never get the equivalent back financially in candles.

Why be dismissive of brood wax? Properly processed it's fine for candles. Capping wax for lip balms etc for presents, but remember you're not insured to sell them under BBKA product liability.

 

[Swarm]

Cappings only for cosmetic use.

 

[Easy Beesy]

If you want to mark your frames, use a stripe of the queen colour when you fit foundation. That way you can reuse your frames without too much bumf written on them.

 

[oliver90owner]

Harvest in the spring and summer (shook swarms, Bailey comb changes or just take them away if they are unused at the time).

I find wax recovery (larger scale) is best done after the bees have gone beddy-byes for the winter - otherwise it will attract bees from a large area. Those frames, if recycled are then prepared for the following season. Your system will all fall easily into place once you get one.

 

[RogueDrone]

Yep make frame with queen year colour.
AFB on fresh spring drawn wax here, so black wax myth. (I assume they had been robbing from infected comb somewhere)
Replenish the whole BB on three year cycle in one go. Only way to remove disease part reason for swarming, hence using a swarm to draw frames.
Replacing frames ad hoc is for our benifit not bees

colin

 

[UEAHoneyBeeMan]

Harvest in the spring and summer (shook swarms, Bailey comb changes or just take them away if they are unused at the time).

I find wax recovery (larger scale) is best done after the bees have gone beddy-byes for the winter - otherwise it will attract bees from a large area. Those frames, if recycled are then prepared for the following season. Your system will all fall easily into place once you get one.

I used Bailey Comb Exchange to replace all wax in several colonies this year and it worked perfectly, no loss of brood and fresh, drawn wax ready to go into the Winter. All the old frames and comb now about to be recycled. Use the time over Winter to write down a plan for the new season so you have everything covered. For me, what gets written down gets done, everything else forgotten!

 

[drex]

Being a medical man, I smile at what I read about cleaning and sterilising hives etc.
It is advocated we do all we can to cleanse ( even "sterilise") boxes and frames by various methods, and to change comb, and then what do we do but bung the same lot of dirty bees back in, with all the pathogens on them.

Yes I did clean up and scorch all my hive bits and tools before storing for the winter. I do rotate combs. On that one, all I do is move the dirtiest brood combs progressively to the edge of the box during routine active inspections. It seems to make sense as they will have had the most use, rather than rotating them out by date. Brood combs at the edge of the boxes will have had far less brood and traffic than those in the middle. I think I practice good apiary hygiene but also employ some common sense.

 

[pbh4]

Being a medical man, I smile at what I read about cleaning and sterilising hives etc.
It is advocated we do all we can to cleanse ( even "sterilise") boxes and frames by various methods, and to change comb, and then what do we do but bung the same lot of dirty bees back in, with all the pathogens on them.

You mean you don't scorch your bees with a blowlamp?

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[drex]

That or dilute bleach is good at sterilisng them!

 

[bee ginnner]

quick wash in the dishwasher works great.

 

[nickhodge]

Thanks

I wasn't contemplating interfering with the brood nest nor thinking I could get any drawn. That reply is great none the less. I think I will restrict myself to some 'drone' comb I kept taking during the season which was off a sacrificial short frame in the brood box as it was taken very clean and has been in a freezer since! (Should be able to de-frost and get larvae out

Will be fun if only to make two or three tins as I am not expecting much wax from the four or five sandwich bags full I have!

 

[johna]

Put all your old bits of wax,comb etc in a solar wax extractor.This cleans and sterilizes it.Stick old combs in complete-then clean off dross -makes good firelighters.You can then melt the wax in rainwater and filter it thro muslin to get it very clean. Use coloured drawing pins stuck into the top bar-the colour to correspond to the year colour to year code your frames. Use separate coloured pins to identify the year of the queen.(the queen is marked with paint as well)

 

[itma]

Put all your old bits of wax,comb etc in a solar wax extractor.This cleans and sterilizes it. ...

Really?

There was me thinking that much above 70C risked discolouring the wax, and that wax would catch fire at much less than the blowlamp temperatures required for sterilisation.

 

[drex]

I must put a thermometer in my home made solar extractor next year. It is basically a polystyrene box with double glazed lid. The polystyrene has started to " melt" with the walls shrinking and thining down considerably due to this. Must get plenty hot.

 

[susbees]

Thanks

I wasn't contemplating interfering with the brood nest nor thinking I could get any drawn. That reply is great none the less. I think I will restrict myself to some 'drone' comb I kept taking during the season which was off a sacrificial short frame in the brood box as it was taken very clean and has been in a freezer since! (Should be able to de-frost and get larvae out

Will be fun if only to make two or three tins as I am not expecting much wax from the four or five sandwich bags full I have!

You are seriously considering making lip balm after picking out thawing drone larvae....ewww. At least if you are going to eat larvae, do it fresh and use a toothpick for the varroa mites...pesky things