Melting Down Brood Comb - Bee Vlog
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- It takes a bit of time and some sacrificial equipment, but melting bees wax isn't difficult.
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Second hand crock-pot with water, wax in a paint straining bag. When the wax is melted you just pull out the bag and wring it out carefully, it will be hot. The brood sacks stay in the bag, the wax melts out. Then just turn in off and wait for the wax to harden in to a cake the shape of your crock. No open flame, plug it in anywhere you want, much safer. Easy peasy
Just read through the comments. Yes the "dirt" is number 2 Propolis. Myself, I save it, add some alcohol, leave it sealed in a glass jar for a couple of weeks, then as I need it, coat the inside of my new boxes. Leave the boxes so the alcohol evaporates before adding bees. It gives them a good head start. And in my case where I was using timber I felt might have been effecting the bees, it seals quite well.
Great video, its always neat to see how other people do things. I always pick up tips and encouragement.
Cheers
Patrick Purcell I started doing the same propolis wash inside some of my swarm traps last spring. I really like it and I plan on doing more of it this next year. It makes new wood seem "used."
@@TheBeeVlog youtube is awesome. I'm new to this and I'm learning tips from you guys that you posted 7 years ago!
I've watched several videos because I'm curious about the process, you are the first person to bring up the smell. I've been purchasing bulk wax and it smells like honey. Thanks for the heads up.
The bulk wax you are purchasing probably comes primarily from wax cappings, produced in a semi-automated fashion during the honey harvest. That wax will definitely smell softer and more like honey. Brood, on the other hand, has a much more pungent smell that can permeate the wax. It's really strong while melting it down and mellows out over time. I might be a super smeller or taster though, because I can smell it when other people can't. Maybe I've just become more sensitive to it.
Genius! Exactly what I needed. I absolutely love your recycling and reuse of nearly everything. Great idea reusing the filter for smoker!
Thanks! I tried the wax-soaked filter in my smoker and it lit easily and burned quickly. Even faster than paper. Got to get the kindling in fast before it burns up completely.
@@TheBeeVlog I take them camping. The wax makes them waterproof. Perfect to start campfires with. I also dip the tips of my wooden match sticks in bees wax and let it dry. It waterproofs matches that way.
The LOTR reference and logic at the end had me clicking "subscribe."
Octography Welcome! It's good to have another LOTR fan here. Someone to understand my level of geekiness.
TheBeeVlog I was going to say something relating to nerdiness, but if Led Zeppelin likes it, how bad can it be to be a nerd?
Octography Let the nerd flag fly proudly!
Yup, I just learned that brood comb smells, Melted it for the first time this year and yes, I did it in the kitchen and yes the family complained..lol Lesson learned.
I would love to see you on public television. it's obvious you are smart, and care about what you are doing.
Thanks! Not sure how I'd manage a public television gig though. :)
Love the grease filter and milk carton idea. Genius!!!
An old cotton t shirt doubled up works well as a final filter.
Alwais with me.
A old pillow cover(from the 2nd hand store) works fine, too, and pressurizing it between 2 tiles or with professional tools will bring out even more wax
Excellent video!! Thank you so much for posting.
This is my method. I am delighted to see it on video;. And will share it with all my customers. Good Job , Thank you
+James McDonald Thanks!
Beautiful looking wax great work
Great video! This is exactly the same process I melt comb and render wax. Liked and subscribed. Keep up the good work!
I learned a lot with your live video Puerto Rico continues to teach these interesting videos thanks
Omg im totally in love with this process for some reason. Im subbing. Going to watch more
+crumb9cheese Welcome!
your channel is incredibly helpful! beekeeping is something I'm incredibly interested in but won't be able to really start until I have my own yard. it's something I'm looking forward to. it never hurts to know a subject well in advance, yeah? ;)
keep up the great work!
Thanks! :) I hope you get your yard soon.
I have to say, you are the first that I have seen that understands a DOUBLE BOILER, and how they work, so many put a pot on the bottom of the pan they have their water in.. You are also the first I have heard about the BROOD SMELL of the wax, making me realize that brood wax needs melted separately from honey comb and cappings, thanks for that tidbit..
Yes, I melt my honey comb and brood comb separate. Honey comb wax I save for cosmetics. Brood comb wax I use with candles or other non-cosmetic purposes. The brood smell does go away, but the darker color is less desirable in cosmetics.
@@TheBeeVlog
Marketing man, marketing! Let the cosmetic industry know how much better brood wax is for your complexion (because of... make sumtin up). And tell them that only brood wax is dark.
😁
That was some nice melted wax!
Liked for the LotR geekery at the end :D
Thanks! Really helpful, sensible instructions.
This is exactly how I do it but I do also pitch in some vinegar to help the chunks settle out better. I am thinking about building a steam box though, it would be so great to do multiple boxes in one batch
I don't know when I made the wrong turn on TH-cam, but man am I glad I ended up here. Awesome videos. If you mix that beeswax with some tree sap, it can be used as Surf Wax. Just a thought. Take care
Basically did this 50 years ago. I was a shooter, and cast my own bullets. It was a little hard for the bullets, so I used to mix it with grease to consistency. This brings back many memories.
Love the ending . So true. Awesome
Northern Ca. Or,Wa , are very pretty states! I love it there
Got chickens? They love the wax coated bee cocoons
precise descriptions. Thanks
Hey mate, you might like to take a look at how I do it. It might be a bit quicker. The material I use to strain it is a product called Termimesh. In my video I'm dealing with cappings, however I do the same thing with brood comb but I don't let it cool down slow, I let a few of those thin slabs accumulate to make one thick one. The fumes affect my sinuses now, I have to wear a mask & take anti-hystamines. Otherwise I get bad sinus infections.
***** Thanks for the tips Jeff. I'll look into that.
***** very nice jeff
magnus anthony
thanks:)
Jeff Heriot have you tried cutting off the caps before hand?
Very satisfying to watch..
Thank you so much first video showing me that you should and must always have a fire extinguisher Nearby.
Brilliant video.
Amazing what a great video!
Great tips there. This wax would be great mixed with linseed oil to protect wooden surfaces out in the weather. I used this mix on my top bar hive.
Nice. What ratio do you use and was it raw or boiled linseed oil?
2 parts wax to 1 part oil I used boiled linseed oil
Plus it was a magic ring with a protective spell around it. That's why it could only be destroyed in mt Doom
This really fascinates me thanks for the video
You can use the cocoons for the garden.
Thank you very much, this was more then helpfull
brood comb when you melt it you have to press it cacoon will sucks up all your wax and all you will. have is a mess
This is perfect! I will do it this way. Thank you! Like it!
+AirlinersHD Thanks! :)
Great job
Beeswax also makes great bullet lube. I imagine most of us "cast boolit" guys won't mind a brood smell.....
However, just curious if the bees will actually use the wax or do they just like the smell?
Don't forget the brood wax can used for leather punching, cutting and stitching as well. Tandy sells a little block about 2 or 3 oz. for $4.
Good point. I wonder if that wax is softened with something to help coat the thread and lube the needles, because my bricks of pure beeswax are very hard and I'm not sure they'd work well.
It is as hard as candle wax and it's pure beeswax according to the packaging which is of course proprietary Tandy Beeswax.lol Don't know who made it for them. I stick my leather punch into it before punching through the thicker leathers, 4 oz or higher and I'll just poke the needle into it as well. For lacing waxing the lacing needle is a must to get it through the slit in the leather.
FYI an ounce of leather thickness is 1/64th of an inch so 4 oz is 1/16th thick. I wax my thread by simply slicing into it like you would floss your teeth. I put it on the blades to help cut through the thicker stuff and for thick 8 oz (1/8th") I use the rotary cutter and I would really like a nice big piece of beeswax to run that back and forth across before cutting. I buy waxed linen thread, but sometimes I see something nice and have to wax it myself, like I bought some nicely colored hemp that was also thicker than usual too.
very well done.
You can use it for making lye soap
Use the other end of the milk box so you can use the cap on the other side
It is possible to do the last melt and let the wax solidify but keep it still a bit soft, so when you scrape the bottom you get a bit of the wax out, but all of the dirt with it
+Or Cohen That's an interesting idea. Thanks!
+TheBeeVlog You're welcome! :)
Awesome!
Can I melt the wax with honey still in it. I have a little bit of comb that has some honey still in it. Would like to melt it to cover plastic foundation.
use a coffee filter in the strainer to remove smaller particles..
Wouldn't the black waste be a good fire starter log type material? Or usefull in smokers?
I imagine it would burn well, but it doesn't store well. It grows mold and attracts pests. I compost it. The worms (and chickens) love it.
It always has a very sweet grain like smell to me. I actually don't mind it at all. My wife minds the mess though. LOL
Have you ever thought about using a Templeton press to maximize the wax harvest of your combs?
I have considered using a press of some kind for honey. It would probably also make things easier for wax too. It's still a project on my to-do list. Maybe someday I'll get to it. :)
Great video! Wow, this is close to a 3-4 day process when all said and done. You did a pretty good job of melting it down. No big disasters. Lol. Have you ever thought of selling the wax block? I just bought some off ebay for roughly $7.50 per pound to make some homemade water proofing.
Yep, 3 days. It could have been a 2-day project but I had too much to do around the house on the first day and didn't have time to get back to it.
At this time I have needs for it myself. If the day ever comes where I have more than I can use then I'll sell it.
I see. I know how that goes with stuff around the house, only for me its around the farm. lol.
That wax after the first should clean very well in the wax melter
Hello,
I have been learning a lot from your Vlogs. I am wondering what ways you reintroduce wax to help your bees out if you always use foundation less frames? I am new to beek & gravitated to Rite Cell foundation for my first year. I put 2 foundation less frames in one of the boxes & the bees drew out an entire frame of natural drone comb.
I don't need to introduce wax. The bees make it. In nature, bee colonies make about 17-20% of the brood nest drone brood. So in a foundationless hive, about 2 out of 10 frames will be drone brood. If you normally have all foundation they have no where to raise drones so they make a lot of burr comb between the boxes, or try to enlarge some cells at the bottom of the frames. If you insert 2 foundationless frames you just gave them room to raise drones. That's why you saw them draw out all drone comb. If you leave the 2 frames of drone comb in the hive and add 2 more foundationless frames in the center of the brood nest, they'll draw out worker comb.
why is this so theraputic?
chickens love the cocoons
great video... How far down do you take it to coat rite cell frames with paint brush.
I've never used rite cell frames.
That spillage tho lmao
make little patties from the old cocoons and place in bait hives
I really wanna do this... I need to buy a bee suite and go find a hive and make some honey and wax..
would putting all the old comb in a 5 gallon paint straining net work? You could tie it up and place in hot water right?? That away it would filter out gunk and you could just throw the gunk in netting away?
I've seen people doing this but I haven't tried it myself. The potential problem I see with it is the slum gum making a mess of the bag and you'd have to throw away the bag as well, which would be an expensive way to process wax.
thanks for the reply. I get those 5 gallon paint mesh bags pretty cheap...it just seems like a cleaner way of doing it. after done...just toss the bag.
The slum gum will hold on to a lot of wax, so if you go this route I recommend a couple options. 1) Weight the bag down somehow so the wax floats above it. Then let the water cool before removing the bag. You should get a block of wax floating to the top. This will slow down wax rendering though and will limit how much you can process at a time. 2) Get some insulated rubber gloves and squeeze the wax out of the slum gum. You can process more wax this way, and can empty the bag while it's still hot and potentially get more use out of the bag.
excellent idea! thanks!
Can't you just mix a fragrance into the last melt to mask the brood smell?
+Meatwaggon I suppose you could. Although, I think maybe I'm just more sensitive to it, as others don't seem to notice or care. Most tend to like the smell. Maybe I'm just unique. :)
I think the cheese cloth method is easier
would a coffee filter work as well for smaller batches for the final filter?
+Virginia Eich I imagine it would. But I haven't tested it to find out.
12:52 You realize that's what ice in water does right? Golum would have floated ontop of the lava, water being less dense than melted rock. The ring would sink. Good video though.
Such waste. Instead of trying to press the wax from the slum, just place more water in the pot. Next take a deep strainer and place it in the pot. The wax seeps through the screen and then use a ladell and scoop only wax and pour into a small pail with an inch of water on the bottom. You'll be left with beautiful wax and save yourself a few steps in the process
Nice
Could you not compress and dry those old cocoons and use them as fuel for a fireplace? Just a thought.
Maybe. But the slum-gum doesn't store well. It gets moldy, stinky, and attracts flies and moth larvae. I put in the compost pile. The worms love it.
Thanks for the answer. :)
Hey mate jw what do u do with the wax and stuff I don't see the point of keeping it so that's y I'm asking on what u use it for
Jasne Alter To me, beeswax is more valuable than honey. It can be used for so many things: lip balms, wood finish or polish. I use it in my own home made deodorant (th-cam.com/video/yJ8kNM_QWOg/w-d-xo.html) and candles (th-cam.com/video/S0JXWjRIZnc/w-d-xo.html). I also wanted to make my own starter strips for foundationless frames, but ran out of wax. :)
Dang all that's good ideas I never thought about that
I use mine for as hair-removal wax. :D
Haha! That last bit.
I tried this with an old, brood comb hive I found. Had a lot of it. Mine looked the same as yours up until yours cooled. Mine looked nothing like that. Mostly nasty water and about a half cup of nasty, dark brown wax. What did I do wrong? Thanks!
It's hard to tell without seeing it, but here are some possibilities: It needs to be processed (melted down in water and scraped) a few times before the water and wax starts to clear up. Or, maybe there just isn't much wax left in those really old brood combs. As brood comb ages it loses wax until it's more cocoons than wax. Another possibility is that the wax was overheated. Dark brown wax is usually an indication of too high melting temps and it got burned. Keep the water at a low simmer, not hard boil. The water is the same temp, but the wax doesn't foam up and burn.
TheBeeVlog I think I over heated it. Thanks a lot!
What size of pot is that
I think it's about 3 gallons.
Isn't brood come kinda worthless to process due to being so dirty from foot traffic / made of mostly paper?
It is more dirty and has less wax, yes. But it still contains wax so it's not totally worthless. You just get less wax yield per comb and takes a little more processing to clean.
Could you keep those cocoons and use them as bait in a swarm trap?
I wouldn't because they get moldy and infested with flies. But it makes for a good addition to a compost pile.
VERY TRUE>THE CORRECT NAME FOR THE GUNK IS SLUMGUM>I TAKE IT OUT THE SOLAR EXTRACTOR AND MASH IT ON TO THE INSIDE OF A BAIT HIVE. USE A PUTTY KNIFE OR A PAINT SCRAPER..........
Could you use this old black comb to make a home-made wax foundation for your bees?
Would it be ok to use for that.
Yes, that would be a good use of it.
Thank you so much.
I just got a main box with 2 supers and there was plenty of very old wax in them.
The boxes are very bad and have to be replaced, but most of the frames are ok. It was hard to take the boxes apart and to take the frames out because the comb was all over the place from frame to frame...from side to side and front to back.
I was thinking of melting that old wax and making a sheet of foundation and put it on the frames.
Thanks again.
BTW.....good video.
You can stretch the wax further if you make starter strips instead of foundation. One of my favorite channels posted a how-to video on doing that: th-cam.com/video/T7VxZVSLm4E/w-d-xo.html
Thank you.
I will watch this too.
that dirt you actually scrapped its actually propolis
Not in this case. If it's loose and easily scraped off then it's dirt. If it's hard and difficult to scrape off then it's #2 propolis. I don't usually get much, if any, propolis this way. Plus #2 propolis isn't greatly valued. I get more propolis from scraping down the edges of the frames and boxes. That's the good stuff worth saving.
you have to sprinkle your bucket with water to avoid that wax would stick to walls, see:
Heathland Beekeeping - 8 - Bees' Wax Pressing in a Traditional Apiary
Oleg Kulikov That hasn't really been necessary. I haven't had a problem with wax sticking to the plastic bucket.
TheBeeVlog pls, watch the video on a good German way to do things right, i referred on it. your wax plate has been cracked while solidifying in the buckle. it indicates the problem that wax is sticking to the walls. Also, you may see in the video that squeezing wax in a press through fine mesh and much more boiling water are necessary to get it clean in one step. you are loosing a lot of wax and wasting time on multiple steps of its cleaning.
my grandpa produced wax pieces without cracks and clean enough to make comb foundations by a special press. i did not see how he did it but it was not many steps, sure.
Oleg Kulikov Thanks for sharing the video. That was fun to watch. I always enjoy watching craftsmen at work. Someday, if my operation gets large enough to justify it, I'll definitely be adding some specialized equipment like that to help improve the system. But for now, with just a few hives, the expense just doesn't seem worth it. Next time I'm melting down wax I'll try coating the mold with water and see how it goes.
TheBeeVlog I believe you can use a lemon juice squeezer like this one:
top10for.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Orange-Lemon-Lime-Juice-Squeezer-Thai-Chinese-Kitchenware-Traditional-Juicer.jpg
together with fine cloth to get wax in smaller scale. It is easy to warm the squeezer in hot water too to allow wax flow easy.
Good luck
So why does the wax go black? Is it just old?
+Lucas Jonsson As the wax ages, lots of other stuff starts to build up. But mostly because of the casings or cocoons left behind from each generation of larvae. I cover that in this video: th-cam.com/video/_goYtUJR6SE/w-d-xo.html
+TheBeeVlog oh ok, thanks!
Nice video but im gonna say that using a propane burner to melt wax is a bad idea. Hot plates work alot better. The only reason I am saying this is because I was doing what you are doing and there was wax on the side of the pot and before I knew what happened I almost burned the garage down.
marcman5109 That's exactly why I recommend keeping a fire extinguisher on hand and not walking away from it. I think even a hot plate can ignite things and the same precautions should be taken.
Its hard to get it to ignite wax I have gotten wax on the burner while it was on and it just sizzles, but I also dont have it all the way up. I try to keep the temp as low as I can usually under 180. Just a little piece of advice to anyone who is going to be rendering wax so they dont make the same mistakes I did.
The cocoons you're throwing away can be turned into fire-starters; don't throw it away.
They'd make better compost than fire-starter. They stink, attract pests like flies and wax moth, and get moldy really fast. I don't save them. But they can be added to compost piles.
Throw the coccons to the plants. Excellent fertilizer ;)
I've heard that, but I'm a little concerned it might be too "hot" to apply directly to the plant soil. So I've been adding it to my compost pile, along with the dirty water from pouring off the wax. It seems to do well in the compost.
oh like the hen droppings, Too strong too to apply directly to the soil. Anyways, excellent videos!
what i call wax soup YUM lmao
Man you just scraped about $25 worth of propolis in the trash. Save that stuff and sell it 😀
+ropermi That wasn't propolis. It was dirt and debris from brood casings. It stinks, gets moldy, and attracts pests. It can be used as a fertilizer, but definitely isn't worth $25.
Love the Lord of the Rings analogy!! Thanks for your tips.
chickens love those old cookoons.....don't waste anything..
Nancy Marlow Thanks for the tip. Next time I'll feed it to my chickens and see what they think of it. :)
Anybody else having olfactory hallucinations?
that "DIRT" is #2 propulis
If that's #2 propolis then I have no use for the stuff. It stinks and attracts mold.
I have heard that some people buy that. I throw it away myself
I've heard the same thing. I don't see enough of it to make it worth the effort of saving.
one lady puts in cheese cloth
At 5:40: The Fat Bee Man claims this is #2 propolis and saves and sells his. You don't care for this??>> Wax Part 3 - Make a Beeswax cake & Wax Part 4 - Propolis and Clean Wax processing
This stuff does not seem like propolis to me. It molds easily and has a very unpleasant smell. I've seen it most commonly referred to as "slumgum." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumgum
There are uses for it such as swarm bait or fertilizer. But the smell is unbearable and I have no desire to keep it around. I think the propolis in Don's videos is under the layer of slumgum. In my case there is so very little of it that it isn't worth saving and storing. Don has a very large operation so he's able to collect much more of it. The #1 propolis I recover from the boxes and frames suits my needs just fine.
I'm just saying lol... 100%
pantyhose makes a good fine filtering mechanism
Nice