# Melted and processed my first wax...what is this?



## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

OK, I got the bug to melt some wax! My mentor and I extracted 26 shallow supers and I kept all the wax cappings to melt. First I put them in a bucket and washed them 2 or 3 times. I then add the wax with fresh water to an electric food warmer. It has a stainless steel tub that sits in the warmer in hot water. It did a great job of melting the wax and did not get it too hot. The water in the warmer was 160°F or so. Once melted, I poured the wax and water through a paint strainer into a metal pot and allowed it to cool. I had a nice, thick 3# cake of wax with a layer of dark granulated propolis on the bottom and there were still some small particles of brown in the wax. I scraped all the propolis off and cut the cake up into smaller pieces for one more melt and better straining. After melting, again with water added, I ran it through a filter made of a layer of paint strainer and a BUNCH of layers of cheese cloth. I poured it back into the metal pot That I had cleaned well and let it set up. It was a beautiful, light color on top with lots of little bubbles. When I removed it from the pot after letting it set overnight, I found a fairly thick layer of very light gray material that had similar properties as the wax but was softer. It was nothing like the dark layer of propolis from before. Did I do something wrong? I have not seen anything like this in any of the articles I read on wax processing or the youtube videos I watched. Here are some pictures.

In the pot cooled down before removing:








Bottom of cake (already did some scraping)








Close up of bottom of cake








Cross section of cake showing the thick gray layer


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

Slum gum, minerals, etc.

I melt washed cappings, old comb and other wax scrapings in the oven at lowest temp. or in a solar melter. I place the wax in a stainless steel grilling basket (shaped like a cake pan) in which I have lined the bottom and sides with a layer of quality paper toweling. The wax melts and goes thru the paper towel and drips into a stainless steel buffet pan which has about 1 inch of distilled water in it. 

If you use tap water which is hard and has lots of minerals in it, that will sit on the bottom of a cake of wax along with any slum gum. Also, you would be surprised at the debris that will not pass thru paper towel yet goes thru cheese cloth.


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

Wow, so that much slumgum? It was 1/4" thick in spots. I cut it off with a knife but it was a real pain. Any easier ways of doing that? Also, why did I not see it on my melt before this? There was a layer of brown granular stuff, I assume propolis and other trash but I did not see this layer at all. It was not until the final melt I saw it. This is very wax like but light gray. Does it have a good use in this form? It has no particles in it, just gray waxy substance that is a little softer than the base wax.

Thank you so much for your reply, Bee Bliss!


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

Sorry, double post! Darn computer keeps giving me a 500 internal server error when I post sometimes. Then, when I go look, I have 2 replies!


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## TurnTex (Mar 6, 2015)

BTW, Bee Bliss, This evening I melted some more wax from some old comb. It has already been melted once and rough filtered. I just poured it into the pot I use and this time, I added a layer of blue shop towel over the other filter material. Took quite a while to go through but did have a lot of stuff in it. Thanks for the tip. We will see what it looks like tomorrow. I am enjoying playing with this aspect of bees!

My 9 year old daughter and I are going to make some lip balm with the wax in the pics above. We have all the stuff including the empty tubes. It is going to be her project and she is going to do the selling! Not sure of a name yet but since my name is Curtis and my nickname from when I was a kid is Curt, my wife says I should call it Curt's Bees Lip Balm! Not going there for sure. Would probably get sued by Burt's Bees!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

When it's real grainy I always figured it was pollen. When it's not, I always figured it was a reaction with the minerals in the water. Either way scrape it off. It seems like a waste but unless you have a wax press there isn't much you can do with it.


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## ChuckReburn (Dec 17, 2013)

We first process in an old crock pot with plenty of water and pour through a course strainer - that does a good job of removing chunks and any residual water soluble contaminants. Then we set it on a paper towel suspended with binder clips over a glass container. A little water in the bottom ensures it pops right out. This time of year we use a solar melter which is just an aluminum foil lined cooler topped with a piece of glass. The paper filters out anything that matters, and makes great starter for a smoker. I’ve done 100+ batches of everything from cappings to old brood comb. Color varies greatly but never any funky stuff remaining.


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