# How do you clean your wax cappings?



## SallyD (Mar 12, 2011)

I have all my wax cappings from my recent honey harvest. How do you go about melting them and straining them to use for candles, balm etc? It is too cold now to use a solar melter so I would need to melt it on my own. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! THank you!!


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Crock pot if the solar melter is not getting enough sun.


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

Don't know how much you have, but you can always hold it until next year in 5 gallon buckets with a good tight lid. 

I have the same situation here in Ky. For late extractions, I set it out, and let the bees clean it of honey, then wash, let dry, then store until next year, and use the solar melters. 

cchoganjr


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## mgolden (Oct 26, 2011)

What volume are you dealing with? 

If its ?less than 20 frames, let the bees clean them off in a large bowl outside and stir it when bees go to bed.

Then rinse the wax cappings and put them a double boiler and melt. Scoop out pollen using a a screen "spoon". Use a 2 inch by 7 inch long piece of aluminum window screen. Fold it in half for about half its length and use open end as a spoon. Can get most of pollen out.

Let harden and scrape bottom of wax to get rid of further small pollen. 

A slow cooker will also likely work fairly well, but I haqve neer done. Rinse, melt and screen out pollen.


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## NC Queen Bee (Jun 15, 2012)

I just purchased a solar melter but it's not gonna work for me until spring. I had wanted to make candles for Christmas gifts. I have read you have to wash the cappings in slightly warm water until clean, then place them in a crock pot on low. Let them melt, then you can drain them thru a good grade of paper towels or a cheese cloth. I am going to use one of my nylon strainer bags that isn't in good shape. I have a friend who strainers hers into plastic Solo cups , then when she is ready to make the candles she just re-melts the cleaned 'block' in a crock pot and pours it into the mold or jar... with wicks.. I hope that helps.


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## Wolfer (Jul 15, 2012)

I crush and strain and when I'm done I rinse the wax with warm water and put it in a gallon coffee can, I then fill the can with water and set it on the stove about as low as it will go.
When it's melted I pour the whole thing through a screen into another coffee can and let it cool overnight. The wax floats to the top of course and after it cools it shrinks away from the side of the can so I can pull it out. I still have to scrape some pollen off the bottom of the cake.


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## windfall (Dec 8, 2010)

If you are rinsing your crush and strain you are rinsing away a lot of honey. we have been sticking the bowl of drained wax in a low oven...once it all melts the wax rises to top, honey on the bottom and pollen at the interface. About a pint of honey is reclaimed per every 2 deep frames. Yes it has been "cooked", but it is still great for cooking.


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## mac (May 1, 2005)

Fat beeman has some u-tube videos on this subject http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFJPXszRw8M&feature=fvwrel


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## DLMKA (Feb 7, 2012)

one of the ladies in our bee club cleans the cappings in water after draining out as much honey as possible and wraps the clean cappings up in a t-shirt and weighs it down in a pot of hot water, the clean wax floats to the top leaving all the bits of pollen and bee parts behind in the shirt.


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## SallyD (Mar 12, 2011)

Some excellent ideas! Thank you everyone.


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## ivangrozny (Sep 1, 2012)

Make mead. Add a little water to the cappings in a large stainless kettle, slowly heat to melt the wax. Allow to cool and remove the wax cake. Adjust specific gravity to 1.1 or a little heavier if you like a stronger mead or a sweeter mead. Add a winemakers yeast and let ferment. I do 1 month of primary fermentation, 3 months of secondary, and let it finish out the year in the final fermentation. No need to worry about any pollen, it just feeds the yeast during the long ferment.


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