Bees wax filtering

Hi
I have melted and filtered the wax that was left after the honey extraction.
When it dried I see few layers of wax.
Any idea what is each layer?

Thanks

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You have melted the wax and got some separation but it not yet filtered. I don’t know if in the cleaning section of a supermarket there is wiping cloth, look for a brand name “CHUX” which can be used for washing dishes or kitchen bench tops and cleaning up any spills in the kitchen. They are sold in a roll and each is about 30 cms long. While you are there bug a sieve about 8 cms diameter. Place a sheet of the chux into the sieve and that is the filter for cleaning your wax.
Get the wax out of your glass jar and scrape of any rubbish off it, the rest can go onto your garden.
When the wax is clean break it up a bit and put it into a small saucepan and place that saucepan into a larger one with some water in the larger one so that the smaller one is almost floating. Warm the whole lot on a stove at a low temperature till the wax has melted and hot, then pour the wax though the strainer into a bowl and leave it to cool, If you have a heat gun use it on low or a hair drier to keep the wax a liquid as it filters and you will get more wax.
If you want it really clean put a double layer of the cloth in the filter. When you have done that the wax is filtered.
If you don’t understand you can PM me or just hit reply to let me know where you are stuck ok…
Don’t use the saucepan you had the wax in for cooking.:grinning:
Cheers

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What you can do is boil the wax with water. I would normally use 4 litres of water with up to 7 litres of wax that needs cleaning. I bring it to a boil before pouring through a strainer into a mold. After that I cover the whole thing with towels so the wax sets slowly without cracking. After it cools I separate the water which makes excellent liquid fertilizer. Then I scrape the dross that sets on the bottom of the wax off to be remelted later on. I finish up with beautiful blocks of clean wax.

The residue or slumgum that sits on top of the strainer is also an excellent fertilizer but needs to be used thoughtfully because SHBs also love to breed in it.

After I pour the boiling wax/water through the strainer, I work the residue with a soup spoon so as to allow all the wax to run out of it.

This is more for commercial quantities, however you could do something similar on a smaller scale.

Thanks so much. As I live in Israel, we don’t have “chux” can you share a link to this in Amazon?

I have tried a lot of methods for cleaning up wax, but only one is very easy. Do you have an old slow cooker or crockpot? If so, I can send you a link to a YouTube video showing you how to use it for cleaning up wax. That is one of the simplest methods I have found, and it produces very nice clean wax. If you put a liner in the pot, the wax won’t spoil it.

Here are a couple of photos of the crock pot and the wax it produced:


If you want to try the “Chux” method, you can exchange the Chux cloth for a paint strainer filter, or even a triple layer of fine cheesecloth. Those should both be readily available in Israel. :wink:

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Hi Dawn,

Can you please attach that link I’d like to see it.

@Dawn_SD has answered your question and cheesecloth is an excellent option and looking at her excellent clean wax it does a great job. Thanks Dawn
Cheers

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Here you are, my friend:

The only things that I do a little differently is line the filter bag with kitchen paper towels, and the for draining and cooling stage, I just pull the bag tightly over the lid and clip it so that it cools out of the water and wax. That way I don’t get wax on a metal rack. The filter bags are cheap enough that you can throw them away after a couple of uses. They are actually cheaper than cheesecloth, but I have used that too and it works well with the kitchen paper towels. I also put a slow cooker liner bag into the crock pot to save on cleanup, like the photos in this version of the method:

Here are the liners I use to protect the slow cooker. They can be reused:
https://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-Total/dp/B00HVG7SYW/ref=sr_1_2?crid=EOF5XM1J5RZR&keywords=slow+cooker+liners+oval&qid=1566717166&s=gateway&sprefix=slow+cooker+%2Caps%2C193&sr=8-2

Here are the paint strainers that fit my large oval slow cooker:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBLFPFJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They can also be re-used, but eventually they get brittle from the heat and tear, releasing a big mess. I only re-use them once to prevent this sad event. :blush:

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Thanks Dawn, let me digest all this, appreciate the detailed info.
I have a bucket full of wax to process so I’m keen to find a cheap method that renders nice clean wax.
Cheers

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Thank you so much for the feedback. If anything isn’t clear, ask again, or PM me. I am happy to try to clarify. I have used a lot of labour-intensive methods which require 4 or 5 cycles, but this is not one of those.

You might lose 5-10% of the wax on this first (and only) cycle in the kitchen towels, but the result is so clean that you don’t lose any more because you don’t have to process it again (which you would probably have to do with other methods). Brood comb may require more attention and refining, but the effort with this method is very low. The photos I show above are all wax from supers or cappings.

The kitchen paper towels can later be re used as fire starters for your smoker. :blush:

I watched the clip with David making clean wax and straight away order a slow cooker, when the sun isn’t shining for me to use my solar melter I have been using a microwave but I think a slow cooker might be a better option, so I’m happy to give it a try.
Is that clip on YouTube?
Cheers

Not sure what you are asking @Peter48? The David on YouTube is not my husband (who is also called David). My husband hates rendering, so I do it.

Which clip? The one I posted above is on YouTube, otherwise it wouldn’t work on this forum. the method is a variation of the method I use, which only differs in small details, as I described above. I am not trying to be difficult, it is just that I am not sure what you are asking. :blush:

Hi Peter, do you have another bee vest? you left yours behind. You might be able to pick it up when you go down to Morayfield?

Peter, if you have a fair bit of wax to render, you should look seriously at my method. At the price of wax these days, you don’t want to lose any at all. I don’t lose a drop & it’s easy to do. You can use the slow cooker as a slow cooker.

cheers

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I was asking about the comment #7 on this thread that you posted of a clip, him being English I assumed it was your David. I don’t seem to be able to copy it so as to refresh my memory when I come to do my first melt in a slow cooker. I figure if that clip is on You Tube you might know how I could find it without just looking thru what I guess, is heaps and heaps of them.
Cheers

No problems Jeff, I went out to the apiary this morning to do some mowing and tidy up, but had a spare vest and full suit in my car. I’ll grab that one next time I’m by.
I do a solar melt for wax in the warmer weather and a micro wave at other times. I’m wondering if a slow cooker is more at my pace :laughing:
Cheers

Hi Peter, no problems.

We can talk about the wax later on. The way I do it is way more to your pace. You just need a google pod to remind you not to leave it boiling for too long. The water takes the dirt out of the wax, plus it stops the wax from burning inside the bin it’s boiled in. You can ask them at Morayfield about my wax. Enough said, cheers for now.

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Hi all
Thanks for all the good advice.
First wax cleaning ever came out.
I think it looks great.
Thanks for all the help

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