3.0 PRACTICE OF BEEKEEPING
The candidate will be:
3.21 able to give an elementary account of the harvesting of beeswax;
NOTES
Wax can be collected from the wax cappings from honey extraction, from pieces of burr or brace comb removed from hives in the apiary, and from small pieces scraped from queen excluders, crown boards and so on.
Wax can also be collected from old combs, but very old blackened comb can often harbour diseases and will not render into clean wax very well.
Wax should be stored in a sealed container to avoid problems with wax moth.
When a quantity of wax has been collected it can be melted down and recycled. A common method of doing this is to use a “solar” wax extractor. This is basically a box with a glass lid that contains two metal trays. The box is placed in sun and the pieces of wax put in one tray, the second tray catches the wax as it melts. A filter can be put between the trays but in any case most of the debris will float to the top of the container and can be removed when the wax solidifies again.
Wax can also be melted in hot water and filtered through a fine mesh (old tights would do).
Purpose made appliances can also be bought for melting beeswax but are expensive.