*Note: To prevent unfiltered wax from prematurely hardening while it works its way through the cheesecloth filter, you might want to consider breaking large honeycombs into smaller, more manageable batches.Ĭontact Dadant and Sons For More Tips on Honeycomb Care and Beeswax Harvesting Discard the remnants once the wax has completely filtered into the container. Over the course of several minutes, the wax will filter into the container through the cheesecloth and the impurities will remain on top of the cheesecloth. To clean it, pour melted beeswax onto a cheesecloth that you have strapped over the lid of a storage container (using a rubber band for example) where you plan to store your purified wax. You may or may not, depending on your intentions, want to clean the beeswax after it’s rendered. If you need to clean the beeswax – such as to make medicine or for human consumption or for other reasons – move ahead to the next section on how to clean beeswax.Remove from heat once the wax is totally extracted. The wax melting process will generally take around 15 minutes.Note: avoid at all costs letting the simmering water mix with the wax as this can negatively impact the finished product’s texture. Then place your second pain into the boiling water with the honeycomb chunk inside, wrapped in cheesecloth.In the double boiler you have selected, bring the water in the lower pan to a light simmer (at about a “medium” setting the melting point for beeswax is 144 degrees Fahrenheit).Keep in mind that you might not be able to use your chosen double boiler for conventional cooking afterward because beeswax aggressively sticks to everything it comes into contact with. Newspaper (optional to allow the beeswax to cool)ĭouble boilers (a pan of hot water with a smaller container inside) are ideal for rendering because they allow the slow, controlled melting of beeswax while avoiding burning it and ruining your work.Here’s what you’ll need for the melting process: To extract (render) the beeswax from the honeycomb, first you will boil the honeycomb. So, how do you separate beeswax from honeycomb? Let’s get into it, step by step. It serves multiple functions, primarily as the essential building block of the beehive – analogous to the bricks in a brick house.īeekeepers might be interested in harvesting beeswax because it is useful for a variety of functions, including as a cosmetic ingredient, for candle making (try our Dadant and Sons candle-making supplies ), as a folk medicine, or as a lubricant, among others. Here, we’ll explore the most effective, easiest ways to separate beeswax from the honeycomb. While honey is indeed a valuable commodity, busy honey bees also create another treasure: beeswax. In popular conception, the true pay dirt for beekeepers is honey.
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