Melting Wax
Nov 22, 2014
Winter is in full half effect here in Vancouver with temps hovering around 8 degrees Celsius in the daytime with it dipping around freezing sometimes in the night. For me this is the time to melt the burr comb from the year and capping wax left over from honey extraction. I'm not sure if there is a better easier way to melt it but this works OK. Over a low heat i slowly melt the wax, stirring with a chopstick.
Once the wax has melted fully it is poured into a milk carton with a bit of cheesecloth attached to the top to filter out the thicker crud.
Once strained, remove the cheesecloth and let the wax set for a few hours.
After the wax is hard, tear away the milk carton. Make sure you do this over the sink as any water in the wax will be at the bottom along with some of the finer crud. Usually the wax is a nice solid yellow color. As this wax was from burr comb and some older brood frames the bottom of the wax is quite brown.
This weekend the sun was shining and temps were around 10 Celsius so all the hives were buzzing with activity. hopefully they don't eat all the stores. Here is a pic of a bee looking stunned as it comes back to the hive.
Once the wax has melted fully it is poured into a milk carton with a bit of cheesecloth attached to the top to filter out the thicker crud.
Once strained, remove the cheesecloth and let the wax set for a few hours.
After the wax is hard, tear away the milk carton. Make sure you do this over the sink as any water in the wax will be at the bottom along with some of the finer crud. Usually the wax is a nice solid yellow color. As this wax was from burr comb and some older brood frames the bottom of the wax is quite brown.
This weekend the sun was shining and temps were around 10 Celsius so all the hives were buzzing with activity. hopefully they don't eat all the stores. Here is a pic of a bee looking stunned as it comes back to the hive.
