Wax

[daniel]

Well it is winter in Wisconsin. It was 46 degrees at 3:00 a.m. and 19 degrees at 5:30 a.m. today. We now have a 25 mile an hour wind and snow and 13 degrees.  I have a Lady that would like to buy some wax. Any ideas as what to charge ? I have not sold any before so I have no idea to the value.

[pdmattox]

ABJ in Dec. issue lists wholesale light at $1.90-2.50  and dark at  $1.65-2.25. These are the quotes for your area but keep in mind that it takes 9 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of wax so I would charge more than wholesale for sure.

[rdy-b]

Small portion you should be able to get -(under twenty pounds)-$6-$8 bucks a pound    8-)) thats the going rate for clean candle wax-right now most bulk wax will cost $ 3 bucks drappers -$5 bucks dadant     RDY-B

[annette]

$9.00 a lb at Sacto Beekeeping Store - Yep, I just bought a lb there.

[Michael Bush]

I bought a bunch of unprocessed (just melted with dirt and all) for $4 a pound recently.

[Angi_H]

I am in need of buying some also for use on the plasticel foundations and the Permacomb when ever it gets ordered and delivered. I will need to dunk it so I will more then likely need about 5lbs

Angi

[daniel]

Thanks for the info. I will try a price in the middle and see what she says.  Merry Christmas!!!   

[BMBeeFarm]

Hackenberg 3.00 lb

[johnnybigfish]

Im not trying to be nosy but I am curious..
Why do people buy wax? I mean I am just assuming that Micheal and Annette have wax already.. I only have the wax whats still in my frames after my bees licked it out when I was done extracting .I usually put these frames right back into the hives. I'm guessing that you guys do the same as me and dont really get much reserve wax?
your friend,
john

[rdy-b]

They are making candles and many other uses-such as ingredients for soap- cosmetics you would be surprised at the many uses for beeswax -it is highly prized  ;) RDY-B

[Hopeful]

I'm kind of with John on this. Do you use just the removed cappings or do you scrape all of it off and have the bees draw out all new comb next year? I woul think that leaving the combs would result in bigger honey yields. Or is this about the crush and strain that seem would destroy your combs every time?

[Cindi]

John and Hopeful.  It takes alot of wax to get enough to have that extra to make the wax products that people do.  Yes, if you only remove the wax cappings and give the comb back to the bees, there is not an awful lot of wax.  Crush and strain of course, there is a significant amount more wax.

I have had the bees for two years now and save every bit of burr comb I scrape off, save the cappings and eventually clean the wax.  There is not an awful lot.  But soon I will have enough to dabble a little in candles and the like, maybe next year, hee, hee.  I have foundation frames so I don't have an great amount of the crush and strain, and didn't get much in the way of excess honey this year for cappings savings either.

So those that want to make these wax products, they will buy the wax, because of the high amount they need.  That is what I am reading anyways.  Hope that you will find good answers to your queery.  Have the best and most wonderful day, Cindi

[daniel]

 The Lady that bought the wax makes some candles and other things she said. This was  my second year of extracting my own honey so I only had five lbs to sell. I have three hives so it is only a hobby at this point. She took the wax as it was and paid $5.00 a lb. Thanks again for the info.  Dan

[annette]

Yes, I save every bit of wax that I can. But as Cindi stated, I extract the honey and only have wax from cappings. I did do some crush and strain, but not a lot. I only have 2  tupperware's filled with the wax. When this is finally melted and strained, it will not amount to much. I am just cleaning any wax I save under warm water, letting it dry out and then placing into the tupperwares. When I have enough, then I will make a solar melter like Tillie's from Atlanta and end up with a block of pure wax.

Right now I need the wax to make starter strips for my foundationless frames. So this is why I had to order some.

Take Care
Annette

[Angi_H]

Ya I am wanting it to add to perma comb for the bees to take to it better. If you warm it and then dunk the comb into the wax they will take to the plastic combs better then with just the plastic. For some reasion they do not like the smell of the plastic and dipping it in wax helps hide the smell.


Angi

[Cindi]

Annette.  Something I do when I wash the wax cappings is:  I wash them (right, that is a given) and the water that is left over I save (by freezing) to make sugar syrup for the bees to feed later.  I think that the extra goodness in the water is a great thing to mix with sugar for them.  That is:  providing you know for sure that there is no disease present in the honey residues.  Just my two cents about recycling stuff, hee, hee  ;) :)

Something else I tried too.  I saved some of the really sticky cappings and froze them for later use.  I gave them to the bees on top of the inner cover (using an Imirie shim my Husband built to house it in) as fall feeding.  The bees loved it and cleaned these cappings downright to clean, then I froze them so I can heat them up and get the wax.  The wax is still all in the freezer, ready for cleaning, but I just haven't got around to it yet.  I better hurry up, spring is just around the corner and then life gets busy.  Oh brother, like it isn't busy now, hee, hee.  I think I need to focus on about 2 hours sleep a night, maybe I will try Jerrymac's methods of sleep deprivation, hee, hee,  :-P :roll: :)  Have the most wonderful and best of days.  Cindi

[annette]

Thanks for the advice. Try to get some sleep. I do meditation every night and this has helped me to overcome insomnia.

Love
Annette

[daniel]

For what it is worth I made a double boiler out of two aluminum foil type pans you can get at any store and strained it through two layers of cheese cloth. I used the wood stove in my shop for the heat source.  Dan

[Cindi]

Daniel, you share the same name as my next down Brother, I used to call him Danny, until we grew up and he insisted on Dan.  Sorry, off topic, but I love this man and had to make mention of him.

That is a great idea about the aluminum pans, so many great ideas that come forth on this forum, yea!!!!  Wish I had a wood burning stove, I could have all the wood I needed, but no stove anywhere to be found  :( ;) :roll:  Beautiful day, great life.  Cindi