beeswax waterproofing

[punkrockcaveman]

A friend of mine lives on a farm cottage and his mum is an avid beekeeper. I asked him if I could buy some beeswax from her, and he told me she normally throws it away!!! So I ended up getting a bunch for free. It's great stuff. I use it neat to waterproof my rain coat, just rub it on and stick it in a dryer for a few minutes. It also makes great candles with jute twine for the wick. I've made one batch of waterproofing with 1 part beeswax and 1 part linseed oil, which was great but a little soft.

So this batch I used an old batch of really thick double boiled linseed oil, and used 2 parts beeswax to 1 part oil, which a little turps thrown in which apparently helps it to hardened once you have applied it? It ended up a much stiffer consistency that I was after, and looked like a caramac chocolate bar




cheers

 

[Broch]

Yep, it's my preferred treatment for everything - harder on furniture, quite runny for the first coats on wood, and in-between on leather.

Although, remember, bees are attracted to the smell

 

[Robson Valley]

Waxes have a coefficient of expansion of maybe 10% when they melt from solid to liquid.
Storing wax in jars is OK but lay the jars down at 45 degrees for cooling
so the wax can't push out the bottoms of the jars as it melts for your projects..

 

[Bazzworx]

I really enjoy making various types of polish, waterproofing wax and moisturiser with bees wax. As a beekeeper my self I'm always looking for new thinks to try. Whilst on lockdown I had a go at making hand dipped taper candles which were really successful. I donated a handful of them to the village church to use.
I made a waterproofing agent using beeswax and boiled linseed oil in a 1:1 ratio for my LK35 (this is what was used originally to make tin cloth), once cool it was like a paste so I rubbed it on the canvas and used a hair drier to help it soak in. It took a few days to dry but the results were brilliant, it's also fire proof apparently but I've not tried that. I found the info on this page https://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/waterproof-fabric-using-tin-cloth-zb0z1303zpit

 

[SaraR]

A friend of mine lives on a farm cottage and his mum is an avid beekeeper. I asked him if I could buy some beeswax from her, and he told me she normally throws it away!!! So I ended up getting a bunch for free. It's great stuff. I use it neat to waterproof my rain coat, just rub it on and stick it in a dryer for a few minutes. It also makes great candles with jute twine for the wick. I've made one batch of waterproofing with 1 part beeswax and 1 part linseed oil, which was great but a little soft.

So this batch I used an old batch of really thick double boiled linseed oil, and used 2 parts beeswax to 1 part oil, which a little turps thrown in which apparently helps it to hardened once you have applied it? It ended up a much stiffer consistency that I was after, and looked like a caramac chocolate bar

View attachment 59036
View attachment 59037

cheers

Nice!

Does she not know she can trade it in for fresh foundation? Most companies like Thornes offer that.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Nice!

Does she not know she can trade it in for fresh foundation? Most companies like Thornes offer that.

what is fresh foundation? I will pass the message onto her. Right after my next lot of beeswax

 

[punkrockcaveman]

If I was to pay her for the beeswax, what would be a fair price? £5 per kg? Looks like thornes pay £2.25 per kg of outright wax or £3.50 in shop vouchers

 

[Bazzworx]

It depends on the quality and colour really. Capping wax fetches a premium price as it's used in cosmetics etc. Generally for unrefined wax it's about £10 per KG. Trading in with beekeeping suppliers for outright purchase or against goods is a really poor deal so most beekeepers trade in against fresh foundation where the exchange works out to about £10 worth of foundation per KG.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

ah sweet. Thanks for that. I'll offer her £10 a kg then and also let her know about the foundation trade, thanks folks!

 

[SaraR]

what is fresh foundation? I will pass the message onto her. Right after my next lot of beeswax

It's thin sheets of beeswax with a hexagonal pattern imprinted on it that you put in the frames to guide the bees to draw out the wax comb the way you want it. Most people buy it ready made and slot it into their new frames. Then when the frames get old and manky you remove the old comb and melt it down. Either you clean it up and use/sell or you trade it in - like part-ex for a car but for new foundation. That way you get cheaper foundation and the traders get wax to make new foundation with.

 

[SaraR]

ah sweet. Thanks for that. I'll offer her £10 a kg then and also let her know about the foundation trade, thanks folks!

I think it's great that you want to figure out a good price for it that you are both happy with! Beekeeping equipment is expensive, but she might prefer help with the woodwork or something else in return (like nice handmade candles!).

Most people don't realise just how much work it is for the bees to make wax and that as a beekeeper you take a penalty in terms of how much honey you get if you want to produce more wax. They also don't realise that to make really clean wax, you need to filter it several times, so it's quite labour intensive. So no wonder you often hear complaints about how expensive it is.

I usually keep my cappings and nice pale comb wax separate from the darker stuff so that I get that high quality wax for salves (a project for the future) and the darker stuff for candles and wood/leather treatment. If you don't get a lot at a time, you can freeze it, although I usually just leave it in an airtight container.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

she's sorted me out with plenty of wax and honey in the past and I really value it, shes retired too and she loves her beekeeping so if I can help support that and get some great local wax and honey then that's the ideal scenario for me.

Your right though I should make her something out of the wax like candles. I did make her some beeswax polish last year though!

 

[MrEd]

here is a thing i wrote years ago, sorry i dont have the photos anymore, but you can read it here.

I still use that same receipe to this day

DIY greenland style wax for waterproofing stuff

Ok some of you may already do this or may know of it but some of you may not know how to make greenland style wax, or if you prefer, waterproofing wax. To buy waterproofing wax its around 7 quid for a small block which is quite a lot. its easy to make so save money this way! The paraffin was £1...

bushcraftuk.com

 

[Bazzworx]

I usually keep my cappings and nice pale comb wax separate from the darker stuff so that I get that high quality wax for salves (a project for the future) and the darker stuff for candles and wood/leather treatment. If you don't get a lot at a time, you can freeze it, although I usually just leave it in an airtight container.

I do the same, I keep my cappings separate, filter out the honey then put the whats left into a rapid feeder and give it back to the hive it came from. The bees take the honey and I'm left with powdery wax that's great for projects where you want quality clean virgin wax. This does become awkward though with many hives and remembering which hive which cappings came from.

I never exchange my wax as I always find plenty of things to do with it or friends/family who like to use a bit. Its a great resource almost a shame to use for candles but they smell fantastic and with a correctly tuned wick don't smoke at all. I'm still working on the latter though

 

[MrEd]

I do the same, I keep my cappings separate, filter out the honey then put the whats left into a rapid feeder and give it back to the hive it came from. The bees take the honey and I'm left with powdery wax that's great for projects where you want quality clean virgin wax. This does become awkward though with many hives and remembering which hive which cappings came from.

I never exchange my wax as I always find plenty of things to do with it or friends/family who like to use a bit. Its a great resource almost a shame to use for candles but they smell fantastic and with a correctly tuned wick don't smoke at all. I'm still working on the latter though

i use the cappings and the clean wax from my hives to make beeswax food wraps, i use the darker brown stuff from old brood comb etc for making polishes and leather treatment etc. I obviously strain it beforehand. I love beekeeping

 

[SaraR]

I do the same, I keep my cappings separate, filter out the honey then put the whats left into a rapid feeder and give it back to the hive it came from. The bees take the honey and I'm left with powdery wax that's great for projects where you want quality clean virgin wax. This does become awkward though with many hives and remembering which hive which cappings came from.

I never exchange my wax as I always find plenty of things to do with it or friends/family who like to use a bit. Its a great resource almost a shame to use for candles but they smell fantastic and with a correctly tuned wick don't smoke at all. I'm still working on the latter though

I've never traded in wax either. I'm just storing it for when I need some for - or to just sniff every so often.

 

[Bazzworx]

i use the cappings and the clean wax from my hives to make beeswax food wraps, i use the darker brown stuff from old brood comb etc for making polishes and leather treatment etc. I obviously strain it beforehand. I love beekeeping

My wife made a load of food wraps while we've been off work and I've been tinkering making candles, polishes and hand moisturiser. Its been great having so much time off!! The wraps are brilliant, wish we had made them sooner.

I've never traded in wax either. I'm just storing it for when I need some for - or to just sniff every so often.

I know exactly what you mean, it's wonderful!!

I didn't realise there were a few beekeepers on the forum, maybe we should start a thread 'what beekeeping related stuff did you do recently' I'm not on any bee forums, I find they're an acquired taste. You never know it might encourage a few other people to keep bees as it is quite an amazing hobby.

 

[MrEd]

My wife made a load of food wraps while we've been off work and I've been tinkering making candles, polishes and hand moisturiser. Its been great having so much time off!! The wraps are brilliant, wish we had made them sooner.



I know exactly what you mean, it's wonderful!!

I didn't realise there were a few beekeepers on the forum, maybe we should start a thread 'what beekeeping related stuff did you do recently' I'm not on any bee forums, I find they're an acquired taste. You never know it might encourage a few other people to keep bees as it is quite an amazing hobby.

Yeah that would be good, I belong to an association but i can only take so much of it before i have to have a break!

I will take some photos this weekend when I inspect and start a thread

 

[SaraR]

My wife made a load of food wraps while we've been off work and I've been tinkering making candles, polishes and hand moisturiser. Its been great having so much time off!! The wraps are brilliant, wish we had made them sooner.



I know exactly what you mean, it's wonderful!!

I didn't realise there were a few beekeepers on the forum, maybe we should start a thread 'what beekeeping related stuff did you do recently' I'm not on any bee forums, I find they're an acquired taste. You never know it might encourage a few other people to keep bees as it is quite an amazing hobby.

I'm working from home now so not that much more time than usual, but at least it's a bit more flexible.

I had signed up for a local BKA workshop on making balms, polishes and wraps now in May but that's obviously cancelled now. I know it's not that hard to do on your own but I thought it would be nice to get some pointers from the more experienced ones.

I'd definitely like to hear more about your bees. Always happy to talk bees and they are fascinating creatures. Plus many others on the forum would probably appreciate all the woodwork and if I ever finish my skep I'll post about it here too.

 

[Bazzworx]

Ok cool, I'll start a thread tomorrow 'what beekeeping related stuff did you do recently' as I'm going to do my round of inspections and we'll see where it goes. I'd bee interested to see your skep when it's done SaraR