# diy solar cappings melter for under $50 and better than factory



## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

top = 1/4" lexan cut to 16.25" x 20"

upper box = old 10 frame medium hive body retired due to corner rot painted flat black

lower box = old 10 frame deep hive body retired due to corner rot painted flat black

(two 10 frame mediums will work just as good)

used an old piece of plywood cut to hive body outer dimensions and nailed on the bottom of the lower box

inside and sitting on the floor is an $11.00 tupperware type 'gasket box' from the dollar store having these dimensions:

18.5" x 14.88" square by 11.13" deep

it just so happens that this size gasket box slides comfortably down into the inner dimension of a 10 frame hive body leaving minimal clearance almost like it was engineered precisely to do so.

resting nicely on top of the gasket box is a metal queen excluder robbed out of its wood frame and it also is a perfect fit into the inner dimensions of a 10 frame hive body.

the process is simple, clean, and energy efficient. the result is perfectly clean wax that can then be melted for a myriad of purposes but is already perfectly clean. 

the process is put about 3 - 4" of water in the bottom of the gasket box.

place the excluder on top of the box.

place a single layer of household paper towels over the excluder.

place your cappings (or old comb or whatever beeswax you have) on top of the paper towel.


this particular prototype ends up holding about 18 medium frames (2 ten frame medium running 9 frames per super) worth of cappings wax.

it's a slow process and depends on how sunny it is but a couple of days or so per batch is what the first batches took. the water acts as a cold sink and it takes a fair amount of the morning sun to bring the water up to temp and that's when the wax melting begins in earnest. 

the melted wax seeps through the paper towel and drips down into the water below. you end up with nice looking clean pieces of wax. if you retrieve the clean wax while it is still warm you can squish it into any shape that works for you.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Square...
I wonder how much faster it would work filling the bottom with hot tap water?
Not that it really matters if the sun is doing all the work.
Cheers
gww


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

it would save some time but not enough to make it worth doing it every day.

the one drawback to lexan is that it is an almost 100% ultraviolet blocker. 

this means that a small part of the light energy is not allowed through.

non treated glass would be better for heat, but not as functional due to fragility.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

before melting:









after 5 hours in mostly sunny conditions:


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

attempting a better image for melting wax:


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## clong (Apr 6, 2015)

Squarepeg,

I get the basic idea, but a few more pictures of the inside of your setup would help.

What is the brand of the gastket box?

Thanks for sharing this.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

this is the gasket box:

http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=802&ProductCategory=0&section=0

after 24 hours the first batch was almost completely melted, and i added some more:


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

for a slight upgrade you can make the wax melter portable:


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## clong (Apr 6, 2015)

Squarepeg,

I used to work at a golf course. I think the cars were EZ-Go. I don't recall Sterilite making a golf cart. 

Seriously, thanks for the pictures. That helps a lot.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

:thumbsup:


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

Forgive any lack of visual acuity or perception on my part, but of the pics you show, I seem to see a lot of wax and propolis on top of the paper towel and very little in the sterilite box. Am I missing something important? Your post is very timely for me, as I have both extra boxes and some small amount of wax to melt. Possibly more with honey harvest upcoming. And is it truly detrimental to get a pane of glass in place of the lexan? The lexan may block UV, but it most likely absorbs it. It may still transfer some of that heat into the inside of the melter.

Michael


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

it's hard to see in the photos.

those are big globs of wax floating in the water. 

yes, you will lose a tiny bit of wax that stays saturated in the paper towel but very little.

i'm trying to see how many 'batches' i can run through without changing the paper towel.

perhaps some other material would work better for that, old panty hose?

the brown is not propolis but rather cocoons from what used to be brood comb.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i started to get a pane of glass and have it framed in wood.

the quarter inch lexan was less expensive and structural all by itself.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

the other thing confusing about the photo michael is that i just put some more cappings on what was already melted.

here's what i got from the first batch (cappings from 2 supers):











it's about a softball sized piece weighing about a pound.

super clean and it hasn't been 'boiled'.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Might work for the one or two hive beekeeper. I have too do a few five gallon buckets of cappings a week for a few months.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

odfrank said:


> Might work for the one or two hive beekeeper. I have too do a few five gallon buckets of cappings a week for a few months.


overkill for one or two hives. underkill for your volume.

the space available above the excluder for unmelted cappings is .75 square feet using a deep and a medium as shown with my prototype.

using 2 deeps instead would increase that space to 1.2 square feet.

going forward, i am going to spread the paper towel all the way across the excluder, and 'press' the cappings into firm 'bricks' that take up most of that space.

i should have mentioned that the honey on these cappings was allowed to drain for 24 hours and then they were washed with water and allowed to dry.

we have had mostly sunny skies and we are near the summer solstice. my first two small batches of 2 supers worth of cappings each took 2.5 days to melt.

i've got about 25 lbs. of cappings saved from last year and will be getting a few supers worth of new cappings per week over the next few months.

just the one wax melter will more than meet my needs with the 20 hives. a second one could easily be added if needed.

i've got a buyer for all the wax i can deliver at $10 lb. That should be an easy $500 for this year plus the wax goes to a good home where it is very much appreciated.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

a better look at the melting aftermath:











'brick' of cappings for round 2:


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Squarepeg
What is the buyer doing with the wax?
Cheers
gww


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

gww said:


> What is the buyer doing with the wax?


making and getting a good price for decorative candles. she's also made cosmetics of some kind but i'm not exactly sure what.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Thanks for answering my question.
gww


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

the 'brick' shown in post #17 above went into the solar melter yesterday morning. the sun was in and out of the clouds yesterday and be the end of the day the brick had shrunk down to about half the original size but retained it's basic shape.

there wasn't a cloud in the sky today and here's what i came home to after work:











the paper towel pulls away from the excluder fairly easily when the wax is still warm, not so easily if allowed to cool:











here's the clean wax i got out of the brick:











there's room for an even larger brick but this was a good workable size. it's probably 5 supers or so worth of cappings.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

Sweet set up Squarepeg.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

many thanks 5j. a friend of mine built one similar to this last year and he was happy with it.

those cappings were piling up on me so i'm glad to have a method to repurpose them.

the next thing i want to figure out is how to squeeze the last of the honey out of the cappings instead of just washing it off. 

i'm thinking there should be enough squeezin's by the end of the season to make a carboy or two of mead.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

Your mead-bound honey's going to get hot anyway. Don't put water into the pan. Or use a doubled pan with a water basin under it to catch the honey/wax. They'll separate easily, anyway. You could try using a non-paper filter, as paper saturated with wax may not pass honey, nor honey saturated paper pass wax. Perhaps you can try one of the coarse honey bucket filters? They're plastic and I suspect neither honey nor wax will stop the other from passing through.

What I did with my cappings was to put them into a gallon ziplock bag and heat it in a crock pot. [Addendum: in an inch or two of water-bath in a crockpot] The honey sank to the bottom of the bag and I drained it off after it cooled a bit (more honey, by the way, than I would want to throw away), then remelted the wax. This was cappings, remember, so not terribly much dross to remove. But it seems to me to be a great way to separate honey from cappings prior to passing the wax through your solar melter filter. It may only cost you time.

Michael


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

:thumbsup:

I do a very similar process for reliquefying crystalized honey, with either the sun or a 75 watt light bulb in hive boxes.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

I expect to follow squarepeg's lead here. But I'm thinking I'll paint the interior of the box flat black as well, and also test using a transparent top made from a feeding shim wrapped with Saran wrap (or equivalent). I'm curious about that. For winter/spring months, it might be straightforward to flank the melter with mirrors on either side to give it an extra sun or two for part of the day, but it likely wouldn't be a good idea during High Summer.

Michael


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

I do a similar wax rendering with same beautifully clean results. I got a bunch of styrofoam coolers at the Dollar Tree. I use thick paper towels, a brand I first found at work and then ordered a case for myself, and glass shelves from dumpster diving. I cut the center of the cooler lids out being careful to leave the edge intact, where the glass rests on. Inside the cooler, I have rubbermade food container that fits perfect. Food container inside along with a rock on the bottom to keep steady. Then the paper towel laid flat on top, then the lid of the cooler which is raised on the sides and center cut out. Lid holds the towel securely. Couple cups of loose, clean cappings evenly on top of towel and glass on top. Yes I've gone through some glass over the past 6 years and I've misplaced all last year's glass that I moved because of hurricane. This year I have 2 window inserts my sweetie found in his community dump. I get 4 coolers glass covered per window. I have them on metal stands in my back yard, and I can get though my cappings within a month if I stay on it. Once everything is set up the switch out time is very quick. I use the used towels as fire starters and 1/4 or so piece in my smoker. I think a few years ago I posted pics here of my set up. The wax turns out so pretty it's worth the extra work. I've tried other ways of rendering and this is my favorite. I save cappings and only do it in summer heat and sun. 

I like squarepeg's way, it's the same result with different parts. I'm replying only to show another way of doing it.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

squarepeg said:


> the next thing i want to figure out is how to squeeze the last of the honey out of the cappings instead of just washing it off.
> 
> i'm thinking there should be enough squeezin's by the end of the season to make a carboy or two of mead.


To find an inexpensive way to get honey out of your cappings, spend a little time hunting for 'cheese press' at google. Press your cappings before you melt them, you'll get good honey, no need to turn it into meade.

To increase your wax production, something an old timer convinced me to try this year. Take a coffee can, one of the ones with a plastic lid, out to the bee yard. Every time you scrape a little burr comb or whatever, put it in the can, dont throw it on the ground, it goes a long way to keeping the yard clean and reducing pest problems. You'd be surprised how fast it adds up. Wife filtered a batch of wax last night, got a brick about 5lb. That's burr comb scrapings from 20 colonies so far this year.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i'm making a slight tweak to the process, and that is trimming the paper towels back around the edges so that the melted wax drips off the edge of the paper towel into the water instead of around the top edges of the gasket box.

many thanks to all of you for the replies, tips, and sharing your methods.

grozzie, i'll be researching the 'cheese press'. do you have one in particular that you have used with success?


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Squarepeg
Maybe get some ideals for a simple press here.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+honey+press
Cheers
gww


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

thanks for that gww, i'll be looking at those. i'm hoping to find a way to separate the honey cleanly from the wax while leaving the wax in a pressed 'brick' form ready to pop into the solar melter.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

squarepeg said:


> grozzie, i'll be researching the 'cheese press'. do you have one in particular that you have used with success?


Here are two things that should reach your goal, a pressed brick of wax with little / no honey left in it. Just leave it sit in the press under good pressure overnight should do the trick.

This is how my wife presses here cheese. Depending on what kind of cheese she is making she will sometimes have upwards of 50lb hanging off the end of the bar.










Here is another way to do it.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

many thanks grozzie. i like the looks of the wooden one better. 

it seems like the metal one would have an issue with the wax getting squeezed through the openings not allowing for as much pressure to be applied plus making it harder to remove the brick.

with the wooden one i assume the honey ends up on top of the wax and you just pour it off through a strainer? is that something you made or purchased?


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

squarepeg said:


> many thanks grozzie. i like the looks of the wooden one better.
> 
> it seems like the metal one would have an issue with the wax getting squeezed through the openings not allowing for as much pressure to be applied plus making it harder to remove the brick.
> 
> with the wooden one i assume the honey ends up on top of the wax and you just pour it off through a strainer? is that something you made or purchased?


My wife picked it up when she took a cheese making class. The photo doesn't show it well, but the cheese mold has holes to let the whey drain while it's being pressed. I would expect honey to flow out of the same holes. The way it's set up in that photo, it sits overnight pressing the cheese and the whey that comes out just runs down the board and into the sink.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

got it. so the honey would run out the bottom then.

i'll probably end up building something similar and make it to the dimensions that optimize the brick size to the wax melter.

thanks again!


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks for the great idea, I'll make one for myself this summer.


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## RBRamsey (Mar 1, 2015)

I bought a stainless steel apple press to use to press comb from cut-outs. Place all of the wax in a painter's filter bag and place it in the press. All of the wax stays in the filter bag. It makes it easy to remove from the press. The honey will flow out. I plan on using it on my cappings also to speed up cleanup after extracting, and then drop the cappings into a wax melter. 

I like your idea on the wax melter. I am leaning toward a styro-foam shipping box. They are heavy duty. I will paint it black, and put a piece of tempered glass in the lid. 

https://pleasanthillgrain.com/harvest-bounty-fruit-press-apple-press-wine-cider-press
https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Elastic-Opening-Strainer-Pieces/dp/B00C2A9L0Q


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I bought a Lyson solar wax melter this spring and it turned a problem - all the burr comb I scrape off during the spring and summer - into a lovely, ever-growing brick of cleaned wax. I collect all those bits of comb -it usually amounts to a small melon sized blob if I work my whole yard in one day and just toss them into the melter on my way back to the house. By noon the next day I have clean wax, with some slum gum left on the screen. Scrape the screen and add some more wax. Repeat. 

I had already bought the Lyson one before I saw this thread, but I think no matter which device you use, having a small solar melter is very useful. And fun - I love checking out my growing lump of wax. At the rate I'm going the cost of melter (about $100) will be offset by a single season's rendering of wax which I have been paying $7-8/lb for to use for overwaxing new foundation. Plus it's wax that has only been in my own yard -and under my own pesticide regimen.

Which of course cuts both ways: Because of the EFB I had last summer I have to consider my wax potentially contaminated and will have it run through gamma irradiation over the winter to make sure it's clean before using it next year. I plan on culling all my drawn combs that are not on a hive right now, and recycling that wax, too.

It will be interesting to see at what cooler temps later on in the season the solar gain is not enough for melting. But right now, an hour after sunrise and I am melting wax. On Saturday, the temps inside were higher than 155 F, which was the top end of the thermometer I was using. I will be getting another one to check this out, as heat is one way to kill EFB bacteria on (but maybe not in wax.)

Nancy


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

added another tweak by putting a wooden frame around the top of the excluder. this should cause all of the melted wax to drip into the middle of the gasket box and miss the top edge of it.

the width inside the wooden frame is exactly the same width of the paper towel.


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

grozzie2 said:


> Here is another way to do it.



This reminded me of what I bought at Kelley beekeeping for draining my cappings, and with the idea of adding a press on top with weight will make it much more effective:

https://www.kelleybees.com/bucket-strainer.html

I am going to cut the outer rim off a plastic bucket lid to place on top of cappings (strainer inside a 5 gallon honey pail) and add weight. I already have the bucket strainer. 
I will try this with fall harvest. 

At this time I have my back yard hives set up where I am "feeding" them cappings to clean. I put an inner cover on top of hive, then empty shallow, then lid. Tape any holes around hive so I don't set off robbing. I have sandwich size rubbermaid containers with cappings spread on bottom, not too deep of cappings so they can clean them within 2 days. Switch out at sunset with wet cappings. Because I am using the inner cover to place the container on, I do not need to use smoke to make the switch because very little disruption to the bees.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

after a little more refining this is what i ended using:


















the 1x2" frame needs the 2" to be vertical to keep wax from running over, and nylon mesh drains better than paper towel. 

(the mesh is less than $1 per yard at walmart off a 54" bolt)

a large rubber band hold the mesh to the frame.


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

How many threads per inch on the nylon mesh? I assume that this was in the fabrics section.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

looks like about 20 tpi or so, i didn't notice different sizes. 

yes it was in the fabrics section. 

they had lots of it in all different colors. 

be careful not to get the kind with loose glitter on it.

a few drops of the dark stuff leaches through it but not enough to hurt.


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

Thanks for the thread count! I'll be sure to avoid the pixie dusted selections.

I am actually considering using screen for screen printing.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

Did you try nylons from the women's section? They may be too fine, but much finer than 20 mesh. Seems like it might be worth stretching over a frame, if you can avoid runs in the hosiery, but perhaps it's no faster filtering than paper towels.

Michael


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## Jadeguppy (Jul 19, 2017)

DerTiefster said:


> Did you try nylons from the women's section? They may be too fine, but much finer than 20 mesh. Seems like it might be worth stretching over a frame, if you can avoid runs in the hosiery, but perhaps it's no faster filtering than paper towels.
> 
> Michael


I was about to ask that, then I saw the nylon fabric. Maybe use the nylon fabric under the brick and then pantyhose/knee highs as a second filter under that to catch the little bits of ick? Do you solar melter users think that will work and be worth the effort? Making a melter is on my to-do list this year.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

the mesh i'm using is inexpensive, easy to cut to size and fit to the frame, and doesn't let much ick get through.

i think the wax comes out clean enough to put into a double boiler like beemandan shows in his video. going to try that soon.


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## Jadeguppy (Jul 19, 2017)

If you need to double boil it after wards doesn't that defeat most of the purpose? You could just melt it on the stove to begin with. I'm trying to get away from splattered wax in the kitchen. Had the doorbell ring last summer and as quick as I went, it still started sputtering all over the place the few moments I was away. I'd say my wife was pissed, but since I'm the wife I only had myself to blame.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i think dan's recommendation for using a double boiler (with clean rendered wax) was to control temperature and avoid flame. i also liked his idea to use a cheap two burner stove and keep the pouring pot warm on the second burner.

https://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?350871-Candlemaking-a-personal-video


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## Jadeguppy (Jul 19, 2017)

two burner stove can be used outside, that is a plus. I used a diy double boiler.


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