Producing wax
I wasn't sure what effort might be needed to prepare our wax but it is important that we include this task in our beekeeping calendar in order to be able to give back to the bees as much of our own wax as possible so that we can be sure of its provenance. This way we reduce not only the amount that we need to buy in but also the risk of introducing contamination from chemical residues from unknown sources. We probably will buy some foundation this year but after our experiments with starter strips last year, we are really keen to use starters wherever possible and we can certainly cater for that with our own wax.
So, today was a practice day but at the end of it we have 3lbs of rendered wax all wrapped up and ready for use.
We use a solar extractor to recover any wax from old frames, cappings or bits of brace comb we might have removed during an inspection. So, that means we can get pretty good, clean cakes of wax that just need to be rinsed and dried before any filtering process. Of course, after today, I have a whole new plan for how to manage that better and will make sure that we remove wax from the extractor before piling in more discarded wax. That's because whereas any honey or waste will go to the bottom and can be recovered or washed away, if the wax is added to but is not itself molten, then it means such stuff can get trapped in seams within the wax and that just means there is more mess to deal with. So ... easily solved with a bit of careful planning but no big deal for now.
The method
Using two pans, one with a third full of water, simmering, and the other (smaller one) resting inside and in which the wax is melted. Melt the wax in small pieces until there is sufficient hot liquid and then filter through a couple of layers of muslin into a suitable container.
The containers I used were a stainless steel bowl (which probably worked about the best) and which was first primed with a thin film of washing up liquid; a glass bowl, again with the washing up liquid to assist removal; and thirdly a plastic milk bottle with the top cut out - when set, it's quite easy to cut away the plastic. The muslin is easy secured on the container with an elastic band.
Because I did small separate quantities, I did need to wash out the muslin before re-using, to prevent a blockage, so it will probably be best to plan to filter larger quantitites in future.
Of course we now have pans and utensils that are for the exclusinve use of wax rendering but we expected that and had bought some cheap pans for the purpose.
Job done!
Posted by Sally on Sunday 10 January 2010 - 22:57:01 |
