# 30 year old beeswax before and after



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Some one gave me a few boxes of 30ish year old beeswax a few years ago and I finally got around to re-melting it. 
Before efflorescenced blocks, after steam melting:


----------



## kramerbryan (Oct 30, 2013)

Looks nice. I wonder what pesticide residues are in that wax?


----------



## Agis Apiaries (Jul 22, 2014)

odfrank said:


> ...after steam melting


What kind of setup do you have for steam melting?


----------



## BeeMoose (Oct 19, 2013)

Nice looking wax. What do you use to filter it. I am still looking for that one thing that works well everytime.


----------



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

See this thread for more on Ollie's steam wax melter ....

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...tom-of-brood-comb-wax-block-from-steam-melter


----------



## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

BeeMoose said:


> Nice looking wax. What do you use to filter it. I am still looking for that one thing that works well everytime.


I use those nylon filter bags that go inside a five gallon honey bucket, they work great.


----------



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

That's really interesting Ollie. I always kind of assumed that beeswax naturally darkens somewhat with age. Apparently remelting and getting the "bloom" off really transforms it.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I upgraded my melter by replacing the pressure cookers with this beer keg steam pot. I inject steam into the stainless box top and bottom, filter through some kind of row cover cloth. Recent modifications include larger drain hole on bottom, elbows on steam inlet to aim right at drain hole to prevent clogging. I am considering adding a drain valve up the side and plugging the bottom drain so that there is a dirt capture sump at the bottom filled with water. It works quite well for as Rube Goldberg as it is.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

kramerbryan said:


> Looks nice. I wonder what pesticide residues are in that wax?



This wax pre-dates mites by about ten years so no apistan or coumophos. There was Med Fly spraying back then with Malathion and Sevin spraying for oak moths. It probably is absorbing more currently sitting exposed out of it's suitcase then it did when it was first melted, not that I am in a high pesticide neighborhood. I have more chunks sitting in a cabinet for decades if somebody wants it for clean foundation.


----------



## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

Looks great frank


----------

