Mucky beeswax

[Tengu]

Sorting out stuff and I found a whole load of beeswax I put in a safe place and forgot about.

But its a dark brown rather than yellow

How do I get it to go yellow and does it even matter?

 

[Bazzworx]

Some wax is darker, the very yellow wax comes from the cappings and brace comb and is known as virgin wax. Also if wax is over heated it can go dark too.

 

[SaraR]

Was it yellow to start with? Beeswax can be quite dark, depending on where in the hive it comes from. Unless it's particulates, you can't normally change the colour to a lighter shade, but maybe try melting it and filter it through some cheese cloth? Wax can go darker of you heat it too much.

 

[MrEd]

You could try clarifying it a bit - I put it in a slow cooker full of water and let it melt, then I turn the slow cooker off and let it cool - the debris and detritus will either sink to the bottom of the water or be on the underside of the wax, with the nice yellow stuff on the top. You can then take the wax ‘cake’ out the slow cooker and scrape the grimy stuff off the bottom, repeat as necessary.

Only use the slow cooker on low though, you don’t want to actually boil it.

Do it outside!

Some wax is darker than others, particularly the brood wax. Cappings from the honey supers is the cleanest - I will save you some next year if you want?

 

[Tengu]

I think this is Brood wax.

I was given a whole bucket of gunk from defunct hives.

I melted it down with a certain amount of water and filtered it through cloth. I chucked a lot of non wax yuk.

Ill just have to live with it.

 

[MrEd]

I think this is Brood wax.

I was given a whole bucket of gunk from defunct hives.

I melted it down with a certain amount of water and filtered it through cloth. I chucked a lot of non wax yuk.

Ill just have to live with it.

It will still be fine for use as bees wax - just not for candles etc as is less visually nice, but for waxing cloth, or thread or any other type use it will be fine

 

[slowworm]

I've happily made candles with brood beeswax with no I'll effects such as a bad smell, they are just a rich yellowy brown colour.

I melt the brood wax in plenty of water, strain through a sieve into a deep Pyrex jug and allow to cool slowly. This gets rid of the large old debris in the sieve and then most other bits settle out to the bottom of the wax in the jug.

When the wax is cold I tip it out and scrape the rubbish off the bottom. When I have several chunks these are remelted and I repeat above and end up with a clean block.

It's not the best way of processing but works with limited equipment. I have picked up a second hand fruit steamed thingy to try and repurpose.

When it warms up you could try a simple solar extractor.

 

[SaraR]

For the first passes, I use an old 2lb loaf tin with some water in the bottom to collect the wax and, for the final one, small cut crystal type glass bowls from the charity shops with some washing up liquid smeared on the inside.

 

[Tengu]

I think I will leave it as it is.

Have a new pot for it. Use to wax less serious items.

And keep my yellow beeswax for best.

 

[Toddy]

The darker wax is fine for threads for sewing leather. It's no bad thing being darker there.
It's also awfully useful for folks who make those crayons for filling wood. The woodturners often prefer a darker wax for stuff too.
Can't see it being an issue for the hardened leather bath either.

If you mould it you can sell it in blocks; it looks good on a sales table with the contrasting shades.

I don't think it smells any different when made into candles, but again, the contrasting colours are nice.
Might make a nice little extra earner if you can sell to craft and heritage sites ?

M

 

[grainweevil]

Use to wax less serious items.

Reserved for use on clown shoes and whoopee cushions.

Sometimes I wonder about my sense of humour.

 

[Tengu]

Thats an idea Toddy.