Have you considered putting an inch or so of water in the bread pan? The honey will sink, the wax will float, and make it easier to get out of the pan. Nice looking wax.
Hi Vera. I'm glad you found it helpful. One thing I would change is using plywood instead of the OSB because it turned out pretty heavy. I used OSB because I had some of it around to repurpose. Thanks for stopping in and commenting.
Hi Texas Beekeeper. It works pretty good for small batches. I do so much now, it's not really practical. I use a turkey roaster oven. If I had to change anything on it, I'd use real plywood instead of that OSB. It's pretty heavy and awkward to carry.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Thank you sir. I appreciate it. I actually just now came inside after making my wax melter! I'm super excited about it. I'm actually giving you a small shout out in the video too! Should hopefully be up tomorrow if I can get it edited tonight.
Loved this idea! I'm going to look around and sure to find scraps and left overs that I can use to build a melter like yours. Greetings from Santiago, Chile.
Hi Mariaelena. (what a pretty name). The only thing I would do different is not use USB (compressed wood), it made it very heavy. 1/2" plywood is probably ideal. There are plans on beesource.com.
I think I will freeze it to kill insect larvae that might be in it & then use it in swarm traps or press it into small Firestarter blocks. I have a lot of melted in water,once cleaned beehive wax cakes that I need to purify & I think I'll throw one of these solar meters together & get-r-done.
Rinse the wax and give the water back to the bees. Honey in the wax makes candles sputter I've heard. Pour the water in a bucket, then put a floating bed of straw and sticks so they can get a foothold. When you wash the wax, just use a kitchen strainer to get the clean wax out, then add the grass and twigs. Hope that saved you time and bees.
I don't use this very often any more. It's too small scale and takes too long. I use a small roaster oven now and use a small strainer to get out the larger particles, then filter through a paper towel and pour into 1 oz mold bars. Thanks for watching.
@@JeromeBeeFarm I'm building one that can handle a 5 gallon bucket per day. Always a pleasure to view this channel for hacks and insight. I like the strainers that you find in Chinese restaurants for the first gum pass, then the smaller screen type for the second pass when rendering indoors. You can roll it around to get nearly every precious drop. For the solar melter, im having the wax collection outside via a small tube that drains into a sheet cake pan with water in it. I'm sure its going to look like a giant stalagmite when its all said and done, but I'm going for color, not shape. I want it bright as possible.
It’s funny how much comb it takes to make just a little thing of pure wax. lol. Good luck with your rendering. Thanks for watching and commenting. 👍👍🐝🐝
I don't sell the pure wax, but we make lip balm and hand lotion bars that we mix oils and fragrances to make whatever product. My wife made one with cocoa oil and it smelled like chocolate. I've been expanding hives so much we've actually had very little wax to harvest except at honey harvest time where we collect the cappings. Thanks for watching Mr. Ranger.
Have you considered putting an inch or so of water in the bread pan? The honey will sink, the wax will float, and make it easier to get out of the pan. Nice looking wax.
+Fiona M That’s a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion 👍👍🐝🐝
Thanks for a clear and sensible explanation of a homemade solar wax extractor. Looking forward to trying this out this summer.
Hi Vera. I'm glad you found it helpful. One thing I would change is using plywood instead of the OSB because it turned out pretty heavy. I used OSB because I had some of it around to repurpose. Thanks for stopping in and commenting.
Thank you for a nice informative video. Calm and easy listening.
Thanks Rita. Thanks for watching and commenting.
This is great! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Zbee - If I had to do this again, I would have used plywood. It's really heavy.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Okay. Thanks for this. I appreciate it. :-)
Looking at building a wax melter soon, so I appreciate you sharing this.
Hi Texas Beekeeper. It works pretty good for small batches. I do so much now, it's not really practical. I use a turkey roaster oven. If I had to change anything on it, I'd use real plywood instead of that OSB. It's pretty heavy and awkward to carry.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Thank you sir. I appreciate it. I actually just now came inside after making my wax melter! I'm super excited about it. I'm actually giving you a small shout out in the video too! Should hopefully be up tomorrow if I can get it edited tonight.
Cool, I'll definitely check it out. I think I used plans from beesource.com.
Loved this idea! I'm going to look around and sure to find scraps and left overs that I can use to build a melter like yours. Greetings from Santiago, Chile.
Hi Mariaelena. (what a pretty name). The only thing I would do different is not use USB (compressed wood), it made it very heavy. 1/2" plywood is probably ideal. There are plans on beesource.com.
Mission accomplished
Hey Benjamin. Yeah, that's a nice little melter if you don't have a lot to melt. Thanks for watching.
That "garbage" left behind still had a lot of wax in it. Boiling it up in a decent size pot of water and straining it again would be quite productive.
I think I will freeze it to kill insect larvae that might be in it & then use it in swarm traps or press it into small Firestarter blocks.
I have a lot of melted in water,once cleaned beehive wax cakes that I need to purify & I think I'll throw one of these solar meters together & get-r-done.
Rinse the wax and give the water back to the bees.
Honey in the wax makes candles sputter I've heard.
Pour the water in a bucket, then put a floating bed of straw and sticks so they can get a foothold. When you wash the wax, just use a kitchen strainer to get the clean wax out, then add the grass and twigs.
Hope that saved you time and bees.
I don't use this very often any more. It's too small scale and takes too long. I use a small roaster oven now and use a small strainer to get out the larger particles, then filter through a paper towel and pour into 1 oz mold bars. Thanks for watching.
@@JeromeBeeFarm I'm building one that can handle a 5 gallon bucket per day. Always a pleasure to view this channel for hacks and insight. I like the strainers that you find in Chinese restaurants for the first gum pass, then the smaller screen type for the second pass when rendering indoors. You can roll it around to get nearly every precious drop.
For the solar melter, im having the wax collection outside via a small tube that drains into a sheet cake pan with water in it. I'm sure its going to look like a giant stalagmite when its all said and done, but I'm going for color, not shape. I want it bright as possible.
I’m going to have to melt some down this year. I have some left from last year also.
It’s funny how much comb it takes to make just a little thing of pure wax. lol. Good luck with your rendering. Thanks for watching and commenting. 👍👍🐝🐝
For the record, that's almost a kilogram.
Still think propane is faster and better. Heat it up let it set ~ I don't have all day to do it in > Got bees to work and they need the wax
do you make any products with the wax.
OkieRob we make lip balm and hand lotion bars/stick. I have some candle molds but never had enough wax to make candles.
OkieRob how far are y'all from OKC?
A long way. 3-1/2 hours.
Is there any application or uses for the sludge?
Nunya Biznaz not that I’m aware of.
compost
Chickens love it
Use it to make some fire starter blocks.
Interesting but this is like watching paint dry
Do you watch a lot of videos of paint drying? To those who are interested in the subject, it's a great video.
Like watching wax melt. ;-)
What kind of foundations do you use in your honey supers?
RDR I use mostly wax foundation. I have a few plastic ritecell from Mann lake.
Great vid again ,anyone watching and love honey bees plz watch on you tube (Super swarm storm) incredible size swarm
Thanks Shaun, I'll check that out. Check out 628DirtRooster's world record swarm from a few years back.
Do you sell your bees wax and you're being funny
I don't sell the pure wax, but we make lip balm and hand lotion bars that we mix oils and fragrances to make whatever product. My wife made one with cocoa oil and it smelled like chocolate. I've been expanding hives so much we've actually had very little wax to harvest except at honey harvest time where we collect the cappings. Thanks for watching Mr. Ranger.