Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: annette on June 09, 2008, 11:18:23 AM

Title: White wax
Post by: annette on June 09, 2008, 11:18:23 AM
Well when melting wax in my solar wax melter, all the wax comes out a nice yellow color. But yesterday, I checked the wax melter and found an unbelievable white color. Pure white beeswax. Will post a photo soon. So my question is what made this wax come out white and the rest come out yellow??  OK here is the photo


(http://i30.tinypic.com/20rppis.jpg)
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: Ross on June 09, 2008, 02:16:55 PM
My whitest wax comes from vetch in the spring.  The vetch honey is also water white.  I would say it is completely dependent on what went into the melter.
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: JordanM on June 09, 2008, 02:21:27 PM
Beatiful pictures annette. I thought water was clear?
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: Scadsobees on June 09, 2008, 03:20:46 PM
Nice pics, that is white wax!  Is there ever a difference of how long you leave it out there?  Sunlight will bleach the wax too.  Either that or the bees have found a source of paraffin!  I think that the newer the wax put in the less staining from the bees there will be.

QuoteI thought water was clear
You've never heard of white water rafting??

It is more of a color relative to the honey...since honey is clear too, just yellow clear.

Rick


Title: Re: White wax
Post by: KONASDAD on June 09, 2008, 03:22:52 PM
whiter wax is more desireable than darker wax. Save it and keep it seperate and see if you can gather a bunch of it.
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: Robo on June 09, 2008, 04:20:31 PM
Quote from: JordanM on June 09, 2008, 02:21:27 PM
I thought water was clear?

It is, but clear is not a color.
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: annette on June 09, 2008, 05:56:27 PM
This was really, really dirty wax to start with and from the same batch as the other wax. I could not fit it all into the wax melter at once so did separate batches. I had to strain all this wax twice to have it come out clean. I mean I strained both batches of wax twice. The only thing that was different, was when I went on vacation, I left this batch in the solar wax melter all week. It strained slowly because we did not have really hot weather when I left for this vacation. When I got the yellow colored wax, it filtered down through the paper towels in one afternoon. This wax melted slowly as it started to melt a few days before I left. Perhaps in melting so slowly, this happened??

Anyway, I will keep it separate and see what else I get.

Thanks for sharing thoughts
Annette
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: Brian D. Bray on June 09, 2008, 06:10:10 PM
Quote from: annette on June 09, 2008, 05:56:27 PM
This was really, really dirty wax to start with and from the same batch as the other wax. I could not fit it all into the wax melter at once so did separate batches. I had to strain all this wax twice to have it come out clean. I mean I strained both batches of wax twice. The only thing that was different, was when I went on vacation, I left this batch in the solar wax melter all week. It strained slowly because we did not have really hot weather when I left for this vacation. When I got the yellow colored wax, it filtered down through the paper towels in one afternoon. This wax melted slowly as it started to melt a few days before I left. Perhaps in melting so slowly, this happened??

Anyway, I will keep it separate and see what else I get.

Thanks for sharing thoughts
Annette

Slower melting let the pollen settle out.
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: JordanM on June 09, 2008, 08:37:33 PM
Quote from: Robo on June 09, 2008, 04:20:31 PM
Quote from: JordanM on June 09, 2008, 02:21:27 PM
I thought water was clear?

It is, but clear is not a color.

Thanks for clearing that up :)
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: Scadsobees on June 10, 2008, 10:08:41 AM
Quote from: annette on June 09, 2008, 05:56:27 PMThe only thing that was different, was when I went on vacation, I left this batch in the solar wax melter all week.

The sun will bleach the wax white.  Since time was the main difference, I'd say that this is why it is white.
Title: Re: White wax
Post by: annette on June 10, 2008, 03:15:33 PM
The wax was hidden from the sun under the paper towel. Only the dirty residue remained on top of the paper towel.