Cleaning And Filtering Beeswax In A Homemade Wax Steamer

Getting clean wax from old combs and frames is not that easy. I do it in two stages. The first stage — Wax Extracting — is covered here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzkxq7qGqxQ
This is the second stage — cleaning blocks of dirty wax to get the bits and pieces out.

If you just pour hot wax through a filter, it will cool instantly and solidify on the filter. That’s why it’s worth putting the whole thing in a box and heating with steam.

Of course the pillow-cases get clogged up. When that happens you could either pour the warm wax into a second case (a bit dangerous and heavy too) — or you could wait till the block has set hard (the next day) and peel off the dirty case and scrape down the wax before putting it into a clean one.

This is an important part of beekeeping — it’s part of the process of recycling and accessing all that wonderful wax. Solar wax extractors just don’t work here in Ireland (or, more accurately they work on one or two days in the year) and anyway they’re too small for my needs — so here’s what I came up with. I hope it helps and inspires you. (Please like and share!)

Notes: 1. Hot steam will burn you badly, so be careful!
2. Doing anything with an old gas bottle is also potentially dangerous unless you are certain that it contains no gas. I find it necessary to remove the small frame that protects the valve so I can get at it with a spanner. The copper pipe fittings didn’t quite match the thread — but there’s no pressure in the system so this isn’t a problem.

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Post time: Sep-30-2017