Hello
I just havested one super box ( first time ) and all went well, I cut the cappings off with a sharp knife, that went well also. My question is what can a person all do with the cappings? I know you can chew it like bubble gum and spit out the wax, that was very sweet, yummy yummy lucky tummy. How much of the wax can a person eat before becoming a waxed figure like the ones in a museum??
Thanks,
Brian
Let the bees clean it up some, then melt it down into blocks. If you get enough, use it, sell it, or trade it for foundation. It also works good around the house. I like it for the bow strings.
put it out to let the bees clean it up then process it. But be careful if you have SHB it wont take long for the cappings to become a SHB nightmare
The honey next to the caps is the best there is, and it's what I have always saved for my self. After I have let them completely drain, I'll set them out for the bees to give a once over, then make some milk carton candles from the wax. They have a great scent when you lite them up.
Cappings wax is the highest quality wax with the lightest color. I melt it separately from my other darker wax.
I have the container of the cappings right infront of me chewing it up, the honey is very sweet, yummy yummy lucky tummy.
Agree with letting the bees clean it, but I'm still looking for the best way to melt it and mold it???
I've been melting it in water on stove then cooling it but so much trash and brown gunk under bottom has made me consider some sort of filter or not sure if solar melter alleviates this problem??
I made a solar wax melter for less than $10 (for the pane of glass at Home Depot) and used an old small cooler lined in foil. Google Linda T's bees in Atlanta - she has a great video on her site of how to prepare the wax and use the melter. It works great and all the dark gunk stays on the paper towel and you end up with nice light wax.
Old family tradition that my dad taught me...shove them by the handful into jars and fill the jars with honey. Then scoop it out by the forkful. Dang stinkin' good...
I put my cappings in one of the 400 micron filters that sit in the top of a 5 gallon barrel, crush up the cappings by hand, cover the top securely with saran wrap and put it in the back of my car for a few hours parked in the sun. The cappings come out nearly free of honey, which is filtered nicely in the bottom of the bucket for consumption. The now dried cappings go in the solar melter.