Monday 20 October 2014

All this wax.

QB saves every shred of wax in a bucket labelled - you've guessed it - "WAX".
Most goes into the solar wax extractor - which must now be emptied, cleaned and
stored away till 2015.  So what to do with the wax?
And there's all those cappings from the honey combs - washed and dried.

A large old pan is very useful.  Boil some water and drop all the wax, not very clean,
into the hot water. Keep stirring and the melted wax will float to the top.  Leave to cool.
I think it's a good idea to loosen the wax circle before it sets solid.  Pour off the water, now
cold and this is what you get.
The semi-circle on the left shows the clean wax.  The right shows the debris underneath which must be scraped off.
This lovely pale beeswax can now be used.
I make candles to use at home and also to sell.
This is our stand at the Village Show in September.
Candles, honey, furniture polish and, on the left, a BBKA Collection box in the shape of a WBC hive.
Aaaaaaah!. In aid of Honeybee health and Research.

I have to admit to buying the coloured wax. I haven't ventured into dying wax yet, although you can buy the dye. I don't scent the candles.  The natural smell of Summer cannot be beaten (in my view)
Most of my candles are made in silicon moulds. But
the coloured ones back left are rolled wax foundation.  Very quick to make and very pretty.
QBuZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
If you ask me questions (in the Comment box) I'll do my best to answer them.
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5 comments:

  1. Unknown25 October 2014 at 13:32

    Hello Queenbee I have been wrestling with the problem of how to process my wax, so thanks for the tips. Do you keep the pan with the wax on the heat while it melts? Or do you just rely on the heat of the boiling water? I note you don't strain your melted wax. Is this not needed? My wax is largely bits of brace comb and my cappings so is not too dirty. And I think I will be passing my wax over to a leather worker rather than make candles so pristine wax is maybe not that vital.

    Thanks for putting out a great blog - love it
    From Jane in Allendale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. QueenBeeBlog26 October 2014 at 10:29

      Hi Jane - Keep pan on heat until all wax has melted. Don't leave it!!
      Just keep stirring. When all melted give it a last stir and take off the heat.
      Before it sets solid loosen the wax disc from around edge of pan. When it has set it's very, very hard to lift and drain water off. Also, scrape off grunge before the wax is totally solid - saves time and patience ! I've tried straining - wax sets and clogs up mesh. QB

      Delete
  2. Unknown27 October 2014 at 09:09

    Thanks - will give it a go. But first must get old pan (my husband is in charge of the kitchen so will need to do some negotiating!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. meemsnyc4 December 2014 at 03:26

    I think for the future I should save all my wax. I haven't been doing that. When you make candles, do you add anything to it? like scents?

    ReplyDelete
  4. QueenBeeBlog8 March 2015 at 13:45

    No - I think the natural smell of beeswax is just glorious.
    reminds me of those lovely Summer afternoons when we open the hives.

    ReplyDelete

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