Wax recovery

[Tremyfro]

At last! I am getting to the stage of being able to recover some wax. I melted all my cappings and scrapings and drone comb yesterday. I gave up on my solar wax melter...homemade using a cool box. It was working..but it was slow. So I transferred the wax to my old slow cooker. On its lowest setting...wax melted and I poured it into a foil container with a little water in the bottom. That was fairly late last night...so this morning a small slab of wax awaited me. So now the next lot is melting. it takes a lot of wax collection to make even a small slab of wax doesn't it?
I don't think I will be making many candles! Ha Ha
I might just have enough for a few sheets of homemade foundation!
Still...at least that way I will be giving it back to my bees.
At the end of the summer when I start to cull old frames...I expect I will get more wax.
At the Convention...I saw beekeepers bringing huge blocks of wax in for exchange. They must have loads of hives to collect that much!

 

[oliver90owner]

At the end of the summer when I start to cull old frames...I expect I will get more wax.-

Think here that you use perhaps over 700g of foundation per deep box. Not all the brood comb wax is recoverable, perhaps (well, not economically).

RAB

 

[masterBK]

I get between 1.1 kg to 1.3kg wax recovered from 15 National deeps (the capacity of my steam wax extractor).

 

[Tremyfro]

I won't get a lot from brood frames...a little perhaps...I agree....but still worth recovering since a lot of it was made by the bees. I didn't use a lot of foundation...about 50% was strips of wax. If I can generate enough wax for starter strips for next year...that will be fab....but I doubt I will get enough.
This year I have thought mainly about increase.....of colonies and wax. When you start out...there is no wax...this year I have been able to give supers with comb..a real shortcut for the bees...especially since the weather was so poor in the spring.
I bought quite a few of the red plastic frames...brood and supers. No wiring required. I just put some strips of wax in them and now they are full of comb. Interestingly, in the supers, some of the wax comb was made as drone size...even though the queen was not up there...so now it is full of nectar. In other frames the bees have all sizes of cells...from very tiny to really large. In the brood frames...wall to wall worker brood. I have found that once they have used these frames...you don't need to add another strip of wax...they will just build it themselves without it.

 

[oliver90owner]

Ahh, so you are not aware that they use a bigger cell size for honey storage? One can purchase drone brood foundation if one prefers more honey per frame, or less wax per super. They use drone sized cells because it is more cost effective for them (less wax and more honey stored - in terms of both honey per frame and more honey stored due to lower honey losses while making less wax)

Downside is that if queenie gets above the Q/E you might get a super full of drone brood instead of honey (or instead of a box full of useful worker brood).

 

[Tremyfro]

Ahh, so you are not aware that they use a bigger cell size for honey storage? One can purchase drone brood foundation if one prefers more honey per frame, or less wax per super. They use drone sized cells because it is more cost effective for them (less wax and more honey stored - in terms of both honey per frame and more honey stored due to lower honey losses while making less wax)

Downside is that if queenie gets above the Q/E you might get a super full of drone brood instead of honey (or instead of a box full of useful worker brood).

So that is why they sell drone cell size foundation! Well my girls made their own. I had noticed the honey storage cell size was usually bigger than brood comb but recently...it has been like really big drone size.

 

[Tremyfro]

Could indicate a terrible winter

Now that is just too much negativity! Here we are in the middle of a heatwave!

 

[pargyle]

Improvised Solar Wax Extractor

The weather was so good today I thought it was about time I made a Solar wax extractor ... I was about to raid my dwindling store of Celotex when I remembered my Hive Cosy ...

So .. perfect size and well insulated. I fabricated a 'tray' out of a bit of old caravan side aluminium that was sized to take one of my 14 x 12 frames. A sheet of 2' x 2' greenhouse glass for the 'lid'. An ice cream carton with a hole in the lid and a J cloth to filter it .. A super frame forms the ledge for one end of the tray to sit on and the other end rests on the plastic tub.

Meets all my frugality principles and is dual purpose .. nothing to hate !

Does it work ?? OMG ... it blew up the greenhouse thermometer (which only went to 50 degrees C) in about 10 minutes this afternoon ... first lot of comb only took about 3/4 of an hour.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/sets/72157655336719145

A question ... does anyone have a practical use for the 'slumgum' or should I just put it in my jar of meths based propolis varnish ?

Oh .. and YES that is a very fat wax moth grub .. the wax had been in a tub in the utility room for the last week covered with cling film but there was a hole in the cling film - doesn't take a lot to let the little beggars in !

 

[B+.]

I had noticed the honey storage cell size was usually bigger than brood comb but recently...it has been like really big drone size.

They will also fill the cells with honey deeper so the space between the combs is narrower (which makes it easier for them in winter). You will notice this especially if they start filling brood frames with honey. The top is fuller than the brood.

 

[Finman]

.
you should notice that honey yield comes from pastures. Drone cells does not add yield, neither give any advantage in nursing.
Frames cannot be used in brood box. Flexibility is a big advantage.

Bees draw easily too long cells, and them they are wasted when cells will ne crushed in extracting.

You could imagine too, how difficult long tube is to work, when bees are inside the cell.

I take from supers one frame off out of ten, but two is too much.
.

.

 

[Tom Bick]

So that is why they sell drone cell size foundation! Well my girls made their own. I had noticed the honey storage cell size was usually bigger than brood comb but recently...it has been like really big drone size.

I have seen comb built in a rush when big nectar flows are on. The cells can be less than symmetrical and in some cases larger than drone. Also the angle of the cell back to the midrib is greater than normal so able to hold more nectar during big flows.

I keep trying to get photos of this comb but when it comes down to extracting I am just desperate to get the job done (it’s not my best time in beekeeping) and I miss the combs but perhaps this year.

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes I had noticed the thicker honey arc on the brood frames from last winter.....which I had expected as it was slowly stored there.
I had seen the drone brood foundation...and I knew it was for supers...and about it storing more honey per super.....but I hadn't realised that bees actually built it for themselves....and that was why it was for sale as foundation. I sort of thought that it was to encourage them to build that size...for beekeeper convenience...Ha Ha....
I am glad your wax extractor worked Phil.....mine was far too slow. I think it was too deep and not having a pane of glass didn't help....I only had a sheet of clear plastic. It did start to melt the wax a bit. I will need to use something else. The cool box wasn't ideal. The slow cooker worked fine and will be very useful when melting wax for making foundation.

 

[Tremyfro]

.
you should notice that honey yield comes from pastures. Drone cells does not add yield, neither give any advantage in nursing.
Frames cannot be used in brood box. Flexibility is a big advantage.

Bees draw easily too long cells, and them they are wasted when cells will ne crushed in extracting.

You could imagine too, how difficult long tube is to work, when bees are inside the cell.

I take from supers one frame off out of ten, but two is too much.
.

.

None of my honey comb is too deep ATM .....the spacing in the box helps keep it straight. I don't use the super frames in the brood box....as they are a different size. Last year I did have some brood and a half....but decided I didn't really like running the brood boxes like that and this year some are double brood. I haven't yet got to the stage of taking wax from supers.....only cappings and some from crush and strain frames. Later this year I will be taking some brood frames out of circulation...so may get a bit more wax from them. I am not keeping bees commercially....it's a hobby....so the cost of yield is not so important. Although one shouldn't confuse hobby beekeeping with bad beekeeping.

 

[dn170221]

The weather was so good today I thought it was about time I made a Solar wax extractor ... I was about to raid my dwindling store of Celotex when I remembered my Hive Cosy ...

I like that setup seems really easy (my sort of thing)
What tape did you use to put the cosy together with?

 

[pargyle]

I like that setup seems really easy (my sort of thing)
What tape did you use to put the cosy together with?

Aluminium tape from Screwfix:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/aluminium-foil-tape-silver-aluminium-50mm-x-45m/35529

45m goes a long way. I used bamboo skewers to reinforce the joints and Gripfill (or the Screwfix own label equivalent) to glue the joints together. The tape goes on at the end to cover the joints so your cutting does not have to be perfect. Rock solid - you can stand on it ! Perhaps a bit overkill but I took my lead from DerekM's Celotex Hives ...

The 'bottom' of the box is not fixed - it's just a good fit as, when it is used as a hive cosy, it slides over a timber box and the 'bottom' becomes a slab of insulation at the top of the hive. I may, if I get round to it, cut the glass lid to fit and put a timber frame around it but as an improvisation it did the job.

I was amazed at how quickly the temperature rose and even this morning (where it's dull and overcast after rain last night) the wax is still melting - amazing !

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Aluminium tape from Screwfix:

I was amazed at how quickly the temperature rose and even this morning (where it's dull and overcast after rain last night) the wax is still melting - amazing !

It looks great, Philip. I am jealous of that caravan siding; am noodling PRECISELY that problem (of the internal plumbing). One thing I have found in experimenting with these things, is that shiny sides mean YOU DON'T HAVE TO TRACK THE SUN. You seem to be exploiting that. Makes the plumbing a lot easier. Ideally your cauldron would be absorbing but obviously not a problem. I had mine sitting on a bait hive and noticed it melting at 9am.

Downside is that if queenie gets above the Q/E you might get a super full of drone brood instead of honey (or instead of a box full of useful worker brood).

Been there. Done that. Be kind :- )

 

[pargyle]

It looks great, Philip. I am jealous of that caravan siding; am noodling PRECISELY that problem (of the internal plumbing). .

I like caravan aluminium .. just thick enough to be rigid but thin enough to cut with normal tinsnips. Bending it is easy with a couple of G Cramps, a piece of square timber and a hammer. I have a pop riveter which is the easiest way of joining bits together - they are cheap as chips on ebay - mine is like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Dut...033?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19fc02cf89

 

[Erichalfbee]

I don't think I will be making many candles! Ha Ha

Go for tea-lights. At least you can make a few for yourself for Christmas.
If you do then polycarbonate cups look nicer and you need the thickest bees-waxed pre-tabbed wicks you can get.
Oh....and I just found a new use for my wax. I made two small truckles of cheese from raw milk given to me and I've just waxed them. They look lovely

 

[Steve H]

I don't think I will be making many candles! Ha Ha

Go for tea-lights. At least you can make a few for yourself for Christmas.
If you do then polycarbonate cups look nicer and you need the thickest bees-waxed pre-tabbed wicks you can get.
Oh....and I just found a new use for my wax. I made two small truckles of cheese from raw milk given to me and I've just waxed them. They look lovely

pictures? we want pictures. please

 

[Erichalfbee]

we want pictures
Candles or cheese?