I am deeply curious to know what ya'll do with the left over crush and strain stuff. The stuff I have left over is muck, a combination of honey, pollen, wax, cocoons, probably some bee parts. It has drained off all the honey that possibly could be drained off.
Last year I gave the wax cappings to the bees to clean up, I used an Imirie shim type idea and they went to town on it. The cappings were quite loose, not like the crush and strained aftermath.
But, now I wonder, if I gave this muck back to the bees on top of the inner cover (with a hole in it so the bees can go up) within the confines of the shim, will they suck out the honey that is still in the muck? I need some answers here because it would seem to me that it would be very difficult to get the honey out for the bees.
On the other hand, I suppose I could wash the crush and strain leftovers and use that honey water to make any sugar syrup food that I will be needing to make this year for the bees, that would be a pretty thick water that would do well for the bees. There is no disease in the colonies, so feeding back the honey to them all is safe. Have a great and awesome day. Cindi
cindi, you can use a double boiler, add some water, and melt it all down. you may get some usable wax out of it. mine was a little dirty, but i used it for securing foundation. you will be able to separate the yuk from the honey. you can take the cooled honey water and put it out for the bees. you may need to run it through a nylon or something.
i did this with the bits of the barn cutout that were left over. it was pretty dirty and old stuff.
I normally placed them in a tray and left them inside hives. The bees will suck 100% of leftover honey and remove unwanted objects so finally produce very clean wax. Anyway, this may take a few days. Good day.
I just put it in a big flat pan and sit it out side. They clean it up nicely.
Quote from: Jerrymac on January 29, 2008, 11:09:05 AM
I just put it in a big flat pan and sit it out side. They clean it up nicely.
Same here
........JP
I have been washing all that muck until I am left with only the wax (more or less). Let it dry and place into a large tupperware container. Once the weather turns warm again I am going to make a solar wax melter like Linda T from Atlanta and get just the good clean wax to store for use. Although I like the thought about placing back for the bees to clean up. Much better sounding than just washing all that good water down the drain.
Annette
Annette, do you have any plans on how to make the solar melter? I'd like to see that. Thanks. ;)
......JP
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-on-how-to-use-simple-solar-wax.html
See above for Linda's blog site and I believe it cost her about $8.00 to make this. Looks so easy even I could manage this.
Sincerely
Annette
Thanks Annette, I'll check it out.
Sincerely, JP
Quote from: annette on January 29, 2008, 01:33:30 PM
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-on-how-to-use-simple-solar-wax.html
See above for Linda's blog site and I believe it cost her about $8.00 to make this. Looks so easy even I could manage this.
Sincerely
Annette
If you have an old igloo(the rectangular ones) you could just use that. screw off the cover and just place the pane of glass on top
I save'm until I have a fair amount and feed it to bees in the open in early spring so as to prevent robbing. I place on cookie tray in a blob and they clean it real nice, then the double boiler method mentioned above to clean it for melting.
Whether you do crush and strain or you extract, you still have the cappings or the left over wax to deal with. I melt them in either a double boiler or the oven until it JUST melts and then let it harden. I take the dark honey off the bottom and use it for baking. Then I wash it well and boil it again with water in it and strain it into 1/2 gallon milk cartons to make blocks.
I made a solar wax melter last year from Linda's blog. It is very easy and works great! It is amazing to put cappings out in the morning and come back to a beautiful block of wax in the evening!
Using a solar wax melter to seperate the mess works well too. The junk stays above the filter and the wax floats on the honey.
Our forum, the most wonderful place to get great ideas and answers to our questions. What more could a person ask for? I must say that I feel so grateful to have found this place to present questions, everyone giving their cool experiences of what they do, and then our job as the readers, to figure out what one works the best for us.
Michaels website and Linda's blog are wonderful learning tools too, we are fortunate people in this world that we live. Have a wonderful and greatest of days, Cindi
"If you have an old igloo(the rectangular ones) you could just use that. screw off the cover and just place the pane of glass on top"
Thank you sean for that bit of information.
Annette
sure no prob. also, i have found that resting the wax directly on the tissue/paper towel is a bit of a hindrance. Try putting a piece (well i used a side of a bird cage) of mesh above the paper towel seems to work better. It stops a lot of the gunk etc. from clogging up the towel
Good idea! I hadn't thought of that...
Quote from: sean on January 30, 2008, 02:24:41 PM
sure no prob. also, i have found that resting the wax directly on the tissue/paper towel is a bit of a hindrance. Try putting a piece (well i used a side of a bird cage) of mesh above the paper towel seems to work better. It stops a lot of the gunk etc. from clogging up the towel