S03E17 DIY Solar wax melter made from easily sources materials. @jimmysneighborhoodbees
1. 2 Medium boxes or 1 Deep box
2. 4 bricks (or anything to hold the edge of the pan up)
3. Wax catching container (tupperware or 12" drywall mud pan if 10 frame box)
4. Aluminum cake pan
5. Paper Towel
6. Piece of glass to cover this (As an alternative a clear inner cover from BetterBee can be used)
7. Your old beeswax
Simple, easy, cheap and effective, thank you
Thank you for watching and commenting.
Sweet and simple often times works best.👍
That is the truth! Thanks for watching DC.
Thank you
Thank you for watching!
Try baby powder around the bottom of your box, ants hate that, washes right off when done.
That's good advice, Thanks!
Turn the red container to run the length of the box, and put the slit in the middle straight under the melt pan.
That would be a perfect upgrade! Thanks for commenting.
@@BrianCooper901 right out of high school I got a job as an engineer. I got tired of it (fighting with mechanics that were cool otherwise), so I switched to carpentry/home remodeling. This is a simple and efficient design, and I'll be happy to save your video to my playlists.
Thanks for the kind comments.
4:16 chicken approved & certified!!
The chickens are not camera shy!
Nice ..simple
I’m gonna do similar but get a used cake pan for reusability.
Great idea! I was having troubles finding the right size pan but had some of these on hand. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
So no boiling and straining multiple times???? Thank you for this tip!!!
Yes, exactly! The only time we do anything as far as heating is when we take this wax and melt it to pour. Then you could pour it through a paper towel or cheese cloth again if you had any small particles that you didn't want in candles or lip balms. Thanks for watching!
Wondering if adding water to container will help with honey on the bottom of the wax.
I actually tried that and it made a lot of funky beads of wax as the hot wax hit the water. It formed little pockets of water and honey. I found that just running water over the wax when it was finished washed off any residual honey. Thanks for watching and commenting!
If you rinse the cappings/comb 4-5 times, no honey will be present. I let my bees clean it up, and take what's left in the bucket, and fill it with water. Strain and repeat. Any water left on the wax will make it into the drip pan. I usually put a cup of water in the pan anyways so the wax doesn't stick to it.
@BrianCooper901 if you can get the wax to melt into a level brick by cutting off any leaks, your results will be much cleaner. Plus, no ants.
I put water in the bottom of mine and also got wax balls. The balls may be easier for my wax melter.
@mz.stephaniehaygood if the water pan is to temperature, the wax will remain molten and cool flat. The water in the bottom 'freezes' them when it drops in. If the bottom chamber reaches 160°F then you'll have a level block. Edit: without pockets or voids for water to get trapped in.
Love.it.and.it.beats.a.skillet.over.a.low.fire.then.pouring.the.melted.wax.thru.a.filter.that.I've.seen.some.people.use...I.guess.you.could.say.my.dad.used.solar.back.in.the.70's.when.I.helped.work.his.hives...He.put.all.his.wax.in.an.open.aluminum.cake.pan,.no.top.to.it,.then.put.the.whole.thing.on.the.tailgate.of.one.of.his.pickup.trucks.to.let.the.West.Texas.sun.go.to.work.on.it...Melted.just.as.pretty.as.you.please...I.don't.know.why.he.bothered.because.he.never.did.anything.with.the.wax.anyway...Maybe.he.gave.it.away.to.a.neighbor.that.wanted.it...I.know.he.gave.most.of.his.honey.away,.along.with.most.of.the.fruit.and.a.lot.of.garden.produce.to.friends,.neighbors,.and.the.local.food.bank...His.interest.in.bees.was.in.the.pollination.of.his.gardens,.alfalfa,.almost.every.kind.of.fruit.tree.he.could.plant,.and.his.pecan.orchard...I.say.he,.I.should.have.said.they,.because.both.mom.and.dad.grew.up.on.farms.and.mom.was.right.in.there.with.him.working.like.a.field.hand.on.just.about.every.job.on.their.farm...She.did.not.like.to.work.the.bees.and.was.extra.happy.to.see.me...
I know that Texas can be hot but that's impressive with no top! It sound like he enjoyed helping others and growing a lot of food. That's awesome to grow up around. Thanks for sharing!