I am a Bookbinder & Leatherworker. and we use beeswax for conditioning linen & cotton thread before sewing. The wax derived from cappings is regarded as the highest quality. The fact that most of your wax candle came from cappings may partly account for the difference in colour between your candle and the other one at the end. Capping wax is usually brighter and clearer like yours.
@@fysics5375 they just like forcefully projecting faith anywhere they can, nothing that turns me off of it more, if god allows such a free will stop telling me how to live my life
My grandie and grannie had a rural farm and grandie kept about 2 dozen hives situated at various spots around the farm. Near each hive he would plant different scented flowers, all around the hedgerows, climbing up the barns and storage sheds, the haystack and milking parlor. Grannie used to make scented candles to sell in their farm shop, and some of the flowers were permanent, like the clematis, rhododendron, honeysuckle, gardinia and jasmine. While others were planted as experiments or because that's what grannie said she wanted, so grandie did as he was told - things like phlox, mock orange, iris, sweat pea and lilac. She also used to sell embroidered scent sachets for drawers and wardrobes from the petals of the dried flowers, with the sewn flower on the bag matching the scent. But grannies pride and joy was her rose garden outside her kitchen window, and the wax from the rose hive was only used for their house. She would stand at the sink, watching the bees in the sunshine, flit from one flower to the next, getting duster and more yellow. These bees🐝 made the best beeswax, sweetest smelling candles, and those candles were only ever used in their bedroom. Grannie once said it helped to keep the romance alive and well (with a smile and a wink) - she was 68 at the time and I blushed I was so embarrassed ! She stood there laughing at how red faced I got, telling grandie when he came back for tea, and he bust a gut laughing as well. They were married for 76 years and got married when grandie was 18, and grannie 16. They were each others first, last, and only love and died within 2 days of each other. They were buried together, next to each other, side by side. Sorry about the ramble, but watching this video, seeing you making the beeswax brought back so many happy memories, especially Sundays - church and then all the 3 sons and 2 daughters families (12 adults & 17 children) went there for a Sunday roast lunch, and then sandwiches, salad, and grannies home made cakes and pies for tea about 6 hours later. Her cooking was amazing, and her home always smelled of fresh bread, cakes baking, tea, roast meat, scented flowers, and old waxed furniture. Thanks for making those wonderful forgotten memories come alive again.
@@boogs7190 I am from St.Helens, formerly in the County of Lancashire, now Merseyside, in England. It is situated half way between Liverpool and Manchester. It was originally a coal mining town, with a lot of farms outside of the main centre, most of them agricultural, with some all dairy, but most just had between around 6 to a dozen cows or so for milk, butter & cheese production, which was for home use, and given to family, with the rest sold in the farm shop or at the weekly farmers market, held in the town center so people could get fresh vegetables and such and it was cheaper than the shops. As for being called Grandie, I was just brought up being told to call him that - "Go to your Grandie", or "Go and help Grandie bring the vegetables from the cart". I never thought about it before as its a common word for Grandad or Grandpa around here. I hope this helps you.
Small tip for parchment paper so it doesn't try to fly off on its own and fit molds better. Crinkle it all up and smash it into a ball. Get as much fine webfold lines in it, and you'll be able to shape it very easily to fit molds and other shapes. This has come in use for me for cooking and other kitchen stuff but I can't see why it would apply in helping you in make some nice, square beeswax cakes.
In the future, when you are letting the beeswax/slop mix cool, use (if you have it) a slightly deeper container and fasten a piece of clean window screen across the top, thereby keeping wayward bees from doing a kamikaze dive into the cooling wax.
I came to make the same comment. I'm no beekeeper, but I save dozens of bees a year from my pool. And that's not even the part of me that feels like you should always cover certain arts or products, especially something that's drying.
A fun fact: the original wax that bees produce from their glands is clear and looks like ice flakes. But as they use it with their mouths it gets mixed with whatever else they're chewing on like pollen, honey or plant sap. So basically the fresher the wax is the less colour and smell it has.
Literally never done anything with beekeeping or wax making or watched any videos about either of them, don’t know how I’ve ended up here but it was very enjoyable
As an ex-beekeeper, I agree that beekeeping is a great hobby. We never made that much honey - about 12 gallons/year, which we usually just gave away to our fellow church members !!
As a kid, one of the customers on my paper route paid me with honey. This got me interested in keeping bees. Also it became something for me to do with my father. He was one of the hardest working people I have ever known. Bee keeping was relaxing for him. I did any of the heavy lifting, moving hives to different orchards. The delicate flavour differences of the honeys was always a great addition to the hobby. I also began making mead from some of the honey we harvested. My sister also used some in her cake baking business.
I was given perhaps 30 Lbs of dirty wax from a friends late fathers hives I cleaned it up like you did ,what i found was to use silicon cooking molds to pour it into ,it pops out of them nicely . then you can remelt them for what ever you need. great video !
I second that. I picked up several from second hand/thrift stores and pour my rendered wax into them as the moulds produce clean shaped medallions of wax ready to use for other projects.
That's exactly how I clean up aluminum when I melt it for foundry projects, I use thrifted stainless steel muffin tins and make ingots out of them so I can just use them for whatever later.
silicone chocolate molds sound quite good tbh. make it not too thick and u have perfect beeswax chocolate bars that u can portion pretty well or make granulate like straining it through cold water
regarding your wife's baking pans - when you said "there's quite a bit at stake right now" I literally busted out laughing - your sense of humor is divine and this is hands down one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time!
Couple of ideas, maple syrup finishing filters are washable and reusable. Even after filtering maple syrup that is 219 degrees. Might be helpful, especially with the strong loops attached that you can thread a stick or more through to hold it up. Maybe put some screen over the wax while it cools to keep the bee 🐝 off. Either way if I were doing what you are I’d invest $19 in 12 maple syrup finishing filters. Totally worth it!! 👍🏼
As someone who used to reclaim wax as a hobby, I think you're putting a few extra and unneeded steps into this - the cocoons and whatnot will usually float in the water level and not embed itself into the wax very much. Basically you need to get the water up to the point where the wax liquefies. After it's become a soup from hell just kill the heat and cover it. There's enough thermal mass in the water to keep it warm for a while and the time will help it settle into layers - wax at the top, cocoons, other filth that floats in water, and hell broth. Once it's cold, you can take the puck of wax out and scrape the filth from the bottom. Boiling is a bit of overkill, and boiling it for 10 minutes past it all being melted will only have the benefit of killing off any pathogens (which isn't usually a concern if you're making wax for candles).
@@maxhay9098 (Because sometimes people get function-locked) it also works on parchment paper, and the edges of paper bags you want to roll down without tearing.
I have to be honest say, that was probably one of of the most unexpectedly interesting videos I have seen in quite a while. Definite wow moment at the end, I take my hat off to you in what you are producing, and in fact recycling, from naturally occurring goodness.
my process is a bit simpler: 1. use more water on first round, just heat remove some of the floating junk with a small strainer and let cool. (no messy pour into through filter) all the heavy stuff will settle and you have a pretty clean cake without mess 2. melt just the wax again and pour through stocking or fine filter 3. mix with water again (this will filter out any additional minor water soluble or heavier than water contaminants), heat and then let cool again. => you will end up with a very clean floating cake with less effort, 1 pour instead of 3, less containers/materials needed (just 2 pots)
Kaylee from the honeystead does it that way. She uses a dedicated crock pot for the purpose. I like viewing different methods so if I ever get a chance to do it myself I don't feel lost
This is very interesting to watch and learn from. My father would take 50/50 mix bees wax and mutton tallow and melt and mix together and water proof all kinds of leather and canvas. I have never found anything as good as will, I do quite a lot of leather work and use bees wax for several things. Very good video
I use 1 part mutton tallow, 1 part paraffin, 1/2 part beeswax for Civil War bullet and wad lube. Also use commercial orange oil and beeswax for antique furniture polish and rejuvenation.
Next time I'm at a farmers market I will most definitely buy beeswax candles. This was an amazing adventure you took me on. Thanks for all you do for your beautiful bees. I've never had such an appreciation for beekeepers and their hives...
You could really use a small screened in structure to work your honey and wax. I've worked with bees a lot when I was young, but never processed the wax. Good video.
Good job. For safety, you don't need that much water, just a few inches in the bottom is enough. All you're trying to do is let the slum separate from the wax. Secondly, you don't need to get to boiling, which is also a safety concern. The wax will melt at about 75c which is 167f since it seems like you're in the USA, I did the math.
Bees wax melts between 144 and 147F (or 62-64c) according to other sources. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeswax "Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of 62 to 64 °C (144 to 147 °F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is 204.4 °C (400 °F)."
Doesn’t boiling it help with killing any pathogens? It’s probably not necessary, but with it starting with such dirty slop, I think it would make me feel better.
The most beautiful part of this video for me was seeing that glorious amber gold pour from the bucket into those cake pans. Beeswax is such an amazing substance. So versatile in it's applications.
Not sure if it's a significant issue, but if you want to help keep the bees out of the product as it cools without putting a lid on it, you could get some fine mesh sieves (probably as a flat sheet due to the various containers) and it will keep the bees and any debris out of the cooling product.
Silicone pans in the oven with capping suspended over it in cheesecloth. Low heat, just enough to melt the wax. The cheesecloth will filter the wax and honey from debris The wax will solidify on top, the pasteurized honey will sink to the bottom. The pasteurized honey can be reserved for cooking or return to the bees. The wax cakes can then be washed, then cleaned in water, and reheated in a silicone pan in water until the wax runs clear. Once the wax rubs clear, remove it from the water and melt pieces of beeswax (in the oven) into smaller silicone pans of a desired shape. You can make candles this way, too, just add a wick. Suuuuuper easy, clean, and little cleanup. No buckets, no dead bees, no outdoor Turkey fliers, the waste is only in the cheesecloth, which once washed out might even be able to be reused-depending on how ambitious you are. Works great☀️ Love these videos!!
Thank you for a very interesting video. Bees wax is one of the most important items I possess. It warerproofs wood, works well to lubricate drawyer slides, keeps aluminum from building up on your sanding disks. keeps your table saw blade cool when cutting aluminum plate metal, and a little bit last a long time.
lovely video! baking tip: crumple up the wax paper into a ball and then uncrumple it before lining your baking sheets with it. fits the form of any baking sheet better and doesn't affect the performance any.
I love how the bees just randomly take their turns on video. I live in Kansas, and now I have to go see what color the beeswax from around here is. I am SO enjoying watching your channel!
Excellent video for those unfamiliar with the rendering process. For the darker wax you can run the melted wax through large coffee filters using a pot, a colander, and coffee filter. Place the setup in a warm (100°) oven and let the wax drip down into the pot. Use a fresh coffee filter each time you refill the colander. The used filters make great fire starters and the filtered wax is a beautiful light gold color, perfect for candles. That said, unless you’re set up to render wax in large quantities, it’s easier, and cheaper, to just buy clean wax from a commercial source.
My father is doing the bee-thing as well and very interesting to see the differences in how you organize your bees and process the wax, honey, bees etc...from the other end of the world! Anyway, the wax looks similar and i know what you mean with the smell and the color of it. I use wax in my wood-workshop and I make my own finishing products out of it. Beeswax may not be the long lasting finishing for wood but the best smelling and most enjoyable to apply. So I'm happy to have my own short-way supply chain for beeswax as you are showing. Sometimes I help in processing the wax as well which gives a deeper understanding of it - which is good for further use. For sure, just buying was isn't more expensive but having the whole process in mind, knowing where it is coming from, etc... is priceless.
I will never ever do this, I have no interest in keeping bees but I am fascinated by this video and it is the most satisfying thing ive seen in a while
I have been using the sun to melt the wax in a 2x2ft 8" deep stainless pan with a drain and double pane glass over it. Tilting the pan slightly allows only the clean wax to run into a catch pan. I just set it up and walk away. As the sun moves I need to adjust it a few times during the day. I will add more bee debris to the pan every day till everything is done. Thanks for sharing your method.
Back In the '80s & '90s, I used solar heat too, but being probably a bit cooler where I am, I made a simple framed box wrapped with 3" thick polystyrene foam sheet panels and with a hinged double glazing panel lid. All was propped up and sloped to face the sun. A layered fine zinc fly screen tray on top to dump the raw material and to catch the larger debris, a double fine cloth filter supported by mesh below it and under that was a bit of aluminum sheet bent to funnel the liquid wax to a collector pot. Most of the 'internals' were Aluminum sheet [old caravan body] and sprayed with stove black paint. All sounds a bit complicated, but in truth was all cobbled together from scrap, but worked very well indeed. There was so little work involved, I would buy wax cappings and hive debris wax quite cheaply from other local bee keepers who didn't want the hassle or were just too busy. The resulting wax was very clean and sold for a fair bit of a premium back then. In these days of global trade, wax seems to have become much cheaper in real terms, than it used to be - or is that just my imagination ?
I have tried so many different things for straining my wax, but pantyhose is brilliant! I have honey to bottle today, and look forward to straining my wax due to your helpful video! Aren't we so blessed for these amazing creatures that share their bountiful harvest with us!!!
I have refiled wax for quite some time as hobbie, and in my experience the best material to filter it is 100% cotton coth, you loose a little of wax, but the result is wonderfuly pure. and you gain some waxed cloth too, very useful for a lot of things, from waxing wood tofire starters
I make a lot of metal sculptures and do blacksmithing. I love using beeswax on some of my more traditional pieces or anything that will touch food as a metal finish. It protects the metal from rusting and gives it a very traditional look, compared to painting it with a clearcoat, for example.
A very interesting and well-made video Wes. I never thought about the wax but I love honey and have eaten many different types and it does vary by the plant type they get their nectar from. So I would imagine the wax is the same way. Thanks for sharing.
My mother found a jar of honey in a special foods store up in new york city. It was labeled Leatherwood Honey. Imported of course. It had a very interesting flavor. She loved it. Me .... not so much. 😝
Thanks for this very instructive video. I'm a Dutchman living in Bolivia (South-America) setting up my ecological homestead on 3.5 acres, and I've just started my first two bee hives. A was wondering how to separate the wax from all the rubbish, and your video explained it to me JUST PERFECTLY! So thanks a lot and I wish you well, Hans
I love how cross compatible all the skills involved in the more down to earth processes have. Because I saw your method for cleaning the beeswax and filtering it and my brain immediately went - hey that's also how you harvest/clean tallow! Right down to the tallow/wax cake forming as it cools above the impurity filled water Amazing to watch the process and if I wasn't frightened of getting stung, I would be adding beehives to the list of things I would love to have in a property
I was thinking the same thing, but for the chemistry classes I took in college! Especially organic chemistry lab, which was a lot of filtration and separation of different substances from mixtures.
When I lived near my grandma, she had three hives. She makes the candles and sells them all by herself. She also sold the honey. I fondly remember standing in her old kitchen and uncapping wax combs, spinning out the honey and then cutting up the comb. She would melt it in a big metal pan on the stove to purify it.
I’ve built a solar wax melter for my cappings. It cleans most particles from the wax. If using the wax for candle making it will have to be remelted and filtered. I also use pantyhose for the final filter. You can pour the wax straight into your pans and place them in the freezer for a couple of hours and the wax block will pop right out the pan and not leave any residue on the pan.
I guess you know, that if you save a chunk of the wax for your shop, every rusty bolt and nut when heated up just apply a little of that wax on the piece and let it melt into the threads. You just found the best of the best penetrating oil there is.
I really enjoyed watching your video. My grandson watched it with me & now he wants to raise bees to make his own wax! He's only 7, so maybe in a few years. :)
Thanks for sharing this, i do something similar at present. I plan to make a Solar Wax Melter as i think is not as messy. I made a porotype this year and it worked reasonable well for me in Ireland (where it doesn't get that hot) I will refine it and plan to make a video for my channel
I'm a software engineer living in one of the most densly populated urban metropoli in the world (Tokyo), but now I know how to make a candle from pure beezwax. Thank you for this very edutaining video!
the way you explain everything is easy to follow and enjoyable to watch, very cool video, now i'ma gonna go back thru and see what other interesting things you've gotten up to. awesome job sir. you did a real good job explaining everything in detail in a way an old ape like myself can understand and enjoy :) i always wanted bees when i was little, i dunno why, i guess because i was allergic to honey bees tho so i never did it( one year i ate SO much honey because i was trying to make myself no allergic to honey bees, no idea why i thought eating honey would help, but i love bees and i hated being allergic, i wanted to watch them do their stuff without being terrified of dying lol)
Thank you so much for your video! I followed all the steps, and I have a beautiful cake of wax! I just bought some candle molds on Amazon! Can’t wait to make a candle. Thanks again for a great demonstration.❤
Alex, here is a difference between bees and wasps. Wasps are aggressive, for no reason they will fly to you to sting you. Bees are not aggressive. It’s like they are busy looking for pollen, loving life etc and aren’t looking for someone to sting for no reason like a wasp. It’s kind of hard to believe but it’s like some people just look for trouble and some people are friendly.
I used to melt my wax using a solar heater. I just lined a box with foil covered styrofoam and placed trays of cappings in it. It got warm enough to make the wax flow and be captured. Worked great.
To clean up wax, bring a heat source. No known enzyme, acid, base or solvent will help you. Only heat can, besides bees that is - but bees aren't that obedient. And the last part, a small correction. You are correct in what you are saying, but it's not the whole truth. I think your wax contained more honey than the other one, which would make sense considering the honey-water solution being used. So the reason for the difference between the waxes is, I think, simply methods used to produce said waxes. Quality of the honey does affect the wax though, I'm not saying you are wrong about that.
Bees wax turns darker when you heat it up that hot. I try and just get the wax to melt, and not boil before starting the process. There are also ways to get mor wax out of the crud if you force all the crud to the bottom with a filter then slowly the wax seep through the filter UP in the pot. The pot needs to be heated just to about 147F for a long period of time as the wax slowly makes it way UP.
I absolutely agree. I kept around 20 hives years back and always had a lot of wax to deal with. it does not take a great deal more effort to do a class 1 job. I had a pretty good finishing system, soaking it through fine cloth filter bags in a well insulated solar box. Even the cruddy rubbish and product from the filters would get sticks dipped or coated for firelighters. Sadly I got steadily worse and worse reactions to bee stings till I eventually had to pack up before I came to a sticky end.
As a honey lover, i have been quite aware of how widely the color and taste of honey can varry as a result of which palnts predominate in the vicinity of the hive. I confess feeling a little surprise that the wax is also affected; I had never even thought about that.
A honey lover myself Craig and I totally agree. I think most people don't realize it but honey does have many different flavors according to which plants they get the nectar from ... and I imagine dido for the wax.
Most plastic window screen is made from polyester, which has a melting point of 482 F (295 C). Since your water boils at 212 F (100 C), and your wax melts at 144-147 F (62-64 CC). That plastic screen should withstand anything you can throw at it.
It’s super random recommendations like these that I always love to see. I may never need or be able to use this information, but it sure was entertaining to learn about
This was crazy interesting. I love how all the bees stop by to help and see what you’re doing! Do you just get used to bees everywhere all the time? Thanks for sharing.
As someone who reenacts French and Indian war I really appreciate a good beeswax candle. Even relatively small ones can be stuck in a lantern and burn for hours. It's one of our "if we see it buy some" items.
This was a great video. always have a lot of scraps when cleaning my hives. Now I know I can collect it. I have a friend who is always looking to buy wax for her candle business. Thank you.
Moment of silence for the bees who thought it was smart to enter the liquid
Dude this whole video was a disaster. I watched it high and I couldn't stop laughing
RIP to the bees who didn't survive The Waxening...
Maybee next time put a screen over the pot when the wax is Harding so the bees don't get stuck
Part of the crew...part of the ship...part of the crew...part of the ship
1 like = 1 prayer
🙏
I am a Bookbinder & Leatherworker. and we use beeswax for conditioning linen & cotton thread before sewing. The wax derived from cappings is regarded as the highest quality. The fact that most of your wax candle came from cappings may partly account for the difference in colour between your candle and the other one at the end. Capping wax is usually brighter and clearer like yours.
You know you done good when you’re hearted by the creator and theres no comments saying you’re wrong
Jesus Christ the sovereign God loves you my friends, praise be to the Holy Trinity 😊
@@fysics5375 lol ikr, Jesus Christ loves you
@@joshua2400 wtf does Jesus have to do with anything?
@@fysics5375 they just like forcefully projecting faith anywhere they can, nothing that turns me off of it more, if god allows such a free will stop telling me how to live my life
My grandie and grannie had a rural farm and grandie kept about 2 dozen hives situated at various spots around the farm. Near each hive he would plant different scented flowers, all around the hedgerows, climbing up the barns and storage sheds, the haystack and milking parlor.
Grannie used to make scented candles to sell in their farm shop, and some of the flowers were permanent, like the clematis, rhododendron, honeysuckle, gardinia and jasmine. While others were planted as experiments or because that's what grannie said she wanted, so grandie did as he was told - things like phlox, mock orange, iris, sweat pea and lilac. She also used to sell embroidered scent sachets for drawers and wardrobes from the petals of the dried flowers, with the sewn flower on the bag matching the scent.
But grannies pride and joy was her rose garden outside her kitchen window, and the wax from the rose hive was only used for their house. She would stand at the sink, watching the bees in the sunshine, flit from one flower to the next, getting duster and more yellow. These bees🐝 made the best beeswax, sweetest smelling candles, and those candles were only ever used in their bedroom. Grannie once said it helped to keep the romance alive and well (with a smile and a wink) - she was 68 at the time and I blushed I was so embarrassed ! She stood there laughing at how red faced I got, telling grandie when he came back for tea, and he bust a gut laughing as well.
They were married for 76 years and got married when grandie was 18, and grannie 16. They were each others first, last, and only love and died within 2 days of each other. They were buried together, next to each other, side by side.
Sorry about the ramble, but watching this video, seeing you making the beeswax brought back so many happy memories, especially Sundays - church and then all the 3 sons and 2 daughters families (12 adults & 17 children) went there for a Sunday roast lunch, and then sandwiches, salad, and grannies home made cakes and pies for tea about 6 hours later. Her cooking was amazing, and her home always smelled of fresh bread, cakes baking, tea, roast meat, scented flowers, and old waxed furniture.
Thanks for making those wonderful forgotten memories come alive again.
Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful memories!
very sweet. thank you for sharing such wonderful memories!
I don't think i have ever heard someone say grandie before, where are you from? and such a vivid description of a lovely memory, thank you
that played in my head like a movie
@@boogs7190
I am from St.Helens, formerly in the County of Lancashire, now Merseyside, in England. It is situated half way between Liverpool and Manchester. It was originally a coal mining town, with a lot of farms outside of the main centre, most of them agricultural, with some all dairy, but most just had between around 6 to a dozen cows or so for milk, butter & cheese production, which was for home use, and given to family, with the rest sold in the farm shop or at the weekly farmers market, held in the town center so people could get fresh vegetables and such and it was cheaper than the shops. As for being called Grandie, I was just brought up being told to call him that - "Go to your Grandie", or "Go and help Grandie bring the vegetables from the cart". I never thought about it before as its a common word for Grandad or Grandpa around here. I hope this helps you.
Small tip for parchment paper so it doesn't try to fly off on its own and fit molds better. Crinkle it all up and smash it into a ball. Get as much fine webfold lines in it, and you'll be able to shape it very easily to fit molds and other shapes. This has come in use for me for cooking and other kitchen stuff but I can't see why it would apply in helping you in make some nice, square beeswax cakes.
This is such a great tip for baking! Thank you!
I just put a little butter or lard on the pan and then stick the paper to it. Like a glue stick.
I can confirm. All those crinkles make the paper more fabric-like, and easier to shape.
In the future, when you are letting the beeswax/slop mix cool, use (if you have it) a slightly deeper container and fasten a piece of clean window screen across the top, thereby keeping wayward bees from doing a kamikaze dive into the cooling wax.
RIP Bees
I came to make the same comment. I'm no beekeeper, but I save dozens of bees a year from my pool. And that's not even the part of me that feels like you should always cover certain arts or products, especially something that's drying.
It's usually at least a couple day when in season.
Honestly I’m late but I wouldn’t be surprised if he only didn’t do it for the video, also you only need that same plastic filter for that anyway
@@SpawnDucky he has 1000s
This definitely explains why beeswax candles are so expensive. Thanks for the lesson!
because they appartently cost a whole bunch of bee's lives
@@carta8399 making beeswax is completely harmless to bees what r u on about bro
@@w34ther Of course it is, i'm just saying that he left the bucket without a lid and a lot of bees got trapped in the wax, didn't you see it?
@@carta8399 oh my bad, i misinterpreted your comment. too used to seeing people online believe that honey is made from blended bees LMAO
@@w34ther I wonder how blended bees would taste now
A fun fact: the original wax that bees produce from their glands is clear and looks like ice flakes. But as they use it with their mouths it gets mixed with whatever else they're chewing on like pollen, honey or plant sap. So basically the fresher the wax is the less colour and smell it has.
Literally never done anything with beekeeping or wax making or watched any videos about either of them, don’t know how I’ve ended up here but it was very enjoyable
lmao me too
same
As an ex-beekeeper, I agree that beekeeping is a great hobby. We never made that much honey - about 12 gallons/year, which we usually just gave away to our fellow church members !!
Same here 😂 I love just sitting with my bees by the ocean, gives me a great sense of peace
As a kid, one of the customers on my paper route paid me with honey. This got me interested in keeping bees. Also it became something for me to do with my father. He was one of the hardest working people I have ever known. Bee keeping was relaxing for him. I did any of the heavy lifting, moving hives to different orchards. The delicate flavour differences of the honeys was always a great addition to the hobby. I also began making mead from some of the honey we harvested. My sister also used some in her cake baking business.
Never made that much honey?!?! I have yet to fill up a 5 gallon bucket but next year is the year!!
Hi Smihologist, .....and that's with just ONE hive with three "supers" (segments) !! Great hobby as long as you don't get too many 🐝 stings !!
why did you stop?
I was given perhaps 30 Lbs of dirty wax from a friends late fathers hives I cleaned it up like you did ,what i found was to use silicon cooking molds to pour it into ,it pops out of them nicely . then you can remelt them for what ever you need. great video !
I second that. I picked up several from second hand/thrift stores and pour my rendered wax into them as the moulds produce clean shaped medallions of wax ready to use for other projects.
That's exactly how I clean up aluminum when I melt it for foundry projects, I use thrifted stainless steel muffin tins and make ingots out of them so I can just use them for whatever later.
I was going to say using one of those mini muffin baking pans would be the perfect size for dropping in for remelts.
silicone chocolate molds sound quite good tbh. make it not too thick and u have perfect beeswax chocolate bars that u can portion pretty well or make granulate like straining it through cold water
@@luxaly9510 Hey there. Now just where did you get that profile pic sunshine??? It doesn't look good on you!
regarding your wife's baking pans - when you said "there's quite a bit at stake right now" I literally busted out laughing - your sense of humor is divine and this is hands down one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time!
Couple of ideas, maple syrup finishing filters are washable and reusable. Even after filtering maple syrup that is 219 degrees. Might be helpful, especially with the strong loops attached that you can thread a stick or more through to hold it up. Maybe put some screen over the wax while it cools to keep the bee 🐝 off. Either way if I were doing what you are I’d invest $19 in 12 maple syrup finishing filters. Totally worth it!! 👍🏼
As someone who used to reclaim wax as a hobby, I think you're putting a few extra and unneeded steps into this - the cocoons and whatnot will usually float in the water level and not embed itself into the wax very much.
Basically you need to get the water up to the point where the wax liquefies. After it's become a soup from hell just kill the heat and cover it. There's enough thermal mass in the water to keep it warm for a while and the time will help it settle into layers - wax at the top, cocoons, other filth that floats in water, and hell broth. Once it's cold, you can take the puck of wax out and scrape the filth from the bottom.
Boiling is a bit of overkill, and boiling it for 10 minutes past it all being melted will only have the benefit of killing off any pathogens (which isn't usually a concern if you're making wax for candles).
Oh and as for the parchment paper - if you crumple it up and then flatten it out, it'll comply much more to the shapes you want
@@BliffleSplick That wax paper trick is straight up genius! Thank you
@@maxhay9098 (Because sometimes people get function-locked) it also works on parchment paper, and the edges of paper bags you want to roll down without tearing.
@@maxhay9098 zimbabwe
As someone who has never refined or reclaimed wax or kept bees - I also took notice and agree with your comment.
I have to be honest say, that was probably one of of the most unexpectedly interesting videos I have seen in quite a while. Definite wow moment at the end, I take my hat off to you in what you are producing, and in fact recycling, from naturally occurring goodness.
Underrated tbh
my process is a bit simpler:
1. use more water on first round, just heat remove some of the floating junk with a small strainer and let cool. (no messy pour into through filter)
all the heavy stuff will settle and you have a pretty clean cake without mess
2. melt just the wax again and pour through stocking or fine filter
3. mix with water again (this will filter out any additional minor water soluble or heavier than water contaminants), heat and then let cool again.
=> you will end up with a very clean floating cake with less effort, 1 pour instead of 3, less containers/materials needed (just 2 pots)
Kaylee from the honeystead does it that way. She uses a dedicated crock pot for the purpose. I like viewing different methods so if I ever get a chance to do it myself I don't feel lost
This is the best video I have seen for removing wax. I never did it correctly. Now I feel like I will be able to :)
A little trick about parchment paper. To get it ti.hold a shape, first wad it up then form it to what you want.
Thanks!
This is very interesting to watch and learn from. My father would take 50/50 mix bees wax and mutton tallow and melt and mix together and water proof all kinds of leather and canvas. I have never found anything as good as will, I do quite a lot of leather work and use bees wax for several things. Very good video
I use 1 part mutton tallow, 1 part paraffin, 1/2 part beeswax for Civil War bullet and wad lube. Also use commercial orange oil and beeswax for antique furniture polish and rejuvenation.
Love the patterns the wax forms when it cools down. Looks like the wax remembers the honey comb structure from its former life.
And now we know why beeswax is so pricey. Lots of work involved. That was fascinating!
The wax you made looks like liquid gold it was very nice. Thanks for sharing your videos with us and God bless
the masculine urge to live a life like this guy in the woods extracting beeswax
The bee urge to dive into boiling wax, and instantly die
@@prussianblue9316 lmao
I have quite literally no interest in beekeeping, but this absolutely fascinates me.
seems like you do have an interest, just don't necessarily want to do it yourself
@@aduantas I agree, fascination is a kind of interest!
Next time I'm at a farmers market I will most definitely buy beeswax candles. This was an amazing adventure you took me on. Thanks for all you do for your beautiful bees. I've never had such an appreciation for beekeepers and their hives...
You could really use a small screened in structure to work your honey and wax. I've worked with bees a lot when I was young, but never processed the wax. Good video.
Good job. For safety, you don't need that much water, just a few inches in the bottom is enough. All you're trying to do is let the slum separate from the wax. Secondly, you don't need to get to boiling, which is also a safety concern. The wax will melt at about 75c which is 167f since it seems like you're in the USA, I did the math.
Bees wax melts between 144 and 147F (or 62-64c) according to other sources.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeswax
"Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of 62 to 64 °C (144 to 147 °F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is 204.4 °C (400 °F)."
Doesn’t boiling it help with killing any pathogens? It’s probably not necessary, but with it starting with such dirty slop, I think it would make me feel better.
@@karenneill9109 Boil it if it makes you feel better. My wax doesn't care how I feel.
@@ThatBeeMan 🤣🤣🤣
The most beautiful part of this video for me was seeing that glorious amber gold pour from the bucket into those cake pans. Beeswax is such an amazing substance. So versatile in it's applications.
Not sure if it's a significant issue, but if you want to help keep the bees out of the product as it cools without putting a lid on it, you could get some fine mesh sieves (probably as a flat sheet due to the various containers) and it will keep the bees and any debris out of the cooling product.
Silicone pans in the oven with capping suspended over it in cheesecloth.
Low heat, just enough to melt the wax.
The cheesecloth will filter the wax and honey from debris
The wax will solidify on top, the pasteurized honey will sink to the bottom.
The pasteurized honey can be reserved for cooking or return to the bees.
The wax cakes can then be washed, then cleaned in water, and reheated in a silicone pan in water until the wax runs clear.
Once the wax rubs clear, remove it from the water and melt pieces of beeswax (in the oven) into smaller silicone pans of a desired shape.
You can make candles this way, too, just add a wick.
Suuuuuper easy, clean, and little cleanup.
No buckets, no dead bees, no outdoor Turkey fliers, the waste is only in the cheesecloth, which once washed out might even be able to be reused-depending on how ambitious you are.
Works great☀️
Love these videos!!
You should make a video to show us how
I never taught about melting it I the oven, the only thing we do diferent from this guy is washing the wax before melting it
Thank you for a very interesting video. Bees wax is one of the most important items I possess. It warerproofs wood, works well to lubricate drawyer slides, keeps aluminum from building up on your sanding disks. keeps your table saw blade cool when cutting aluminum plate metal, and a little bit last a long time.
I love how you're not afraid of the bees. This is eye opening to the process required for bees wax candles. Thank You for sharing.
lovely video! baking tip: crumple up the wax paper into a ball and then uncrumple it before lining your baking sheets with it. fits the form of any baking sheet better and doesn't affect the performance any.
I've always thought that the price of beeswax candles was outrageous. I have to admit that I have a better understanding now.
I love how the bees just randomly take their turns on video. I live in Kansas, and now I have to go see what color the beeswax from around here is. I am SO enjoying watching your channel!
Does anyone else find this gentleman's voice extremely comforting..!? 😄 Thanks for the vid!
Excellent video for those unfamiliar with the rendering process.
For the darker wax you can run the melted wax through large coffee filters using a pot, a colander, and coffee filter.
Place the setup in a warm (100°) oven and let the wax drip down into the pot.
Use a fresh coffee filter each time you refill the colander.
The used filters make great fire starters and the filtered wax is a beautiful light gold color, perfect for candles.
That said, unless you’re set up to render wax in large quantities, it’s easier, and cheaper, to just buy clean wax from a commercial source.
My father is doing the bee-thing as well and very interesting to see the differences in how you organize your bees and process the wax, honey, bees etc...from the other end of the world! Anyway, the wax looks similar and i know what you mean with the smell and the color of it. I use wax in my wood-workshop and I make my own finishing products out of it. Beeswax may not be the long lasting finishing for wood but the best smelling and most enjoyable to apply. So I'm happy to have my own short-way supply chain for beeswax as you are showing. Sometimes I help in processing the wax as well which gives a deeper understanding of it - which is good for further use. For sure, just buying was isn't more expensive but having the whole process in mind, knowing where it is coming from, etc... is priceless.
I have so many empty hives and a head full of dreams of having bees again. I need to clean up my hives. Love this! Thanks.
That time-lapse of the cooling process was very satisfying! Thanks for including it - and for all the information itself, of course!
It was kinda surreal seeming like you were just hanging out with the bees while doing this haha.
I will never ever do this, I have no interest in keeping bees but I am fascinated by this video and it is the most satisfying thing ive seen in a while
I have been using the sun to melt the wax in a 2x2ft 8" deep stainless pan with a drain and double pane glass over it. Tilting the pan slightly allows only the clean wax to run into a catch pan. I just set it up and walk away. As the sun moves I need to adjust it a few times during the day. I will add more bee debris to the pan every day till everything is done. Thanks for sharing your method.
I'm real curious about this. You should make a video of the setup!
Back In the '80s & '90s, I used solar heat too, but being probably a bit cooler where I am, I made a simple framed box wrapped with 3" thick polystyrene foam sheet panels and with a hinged double glazing panel lid. All was propped up and sloped to face the sun. A layered fine zinc fly screen tray on top to dump the raw material and to catch the larger debris, a double fine cloth filter supported by mesh below it and under that was a bit of aluminum sheet bent to funnel the liquid wax to a collector pot. Most of the 'internals' were Aluminum sheet [old caravan body] and sprayed with stove black paint. All sounds a bit complicated, but in truth was all cobbled together from scrap, but worked very well indeed. There was so little work involved, I would buy wax cappings and hive debris wax quite cheaply from other local bee keepers who didn't want the hassle or were just too busy. The resulting wax was very clean and sold for a fair bit of a premium back then. In these days of global trade, wax seems to have become much cheaper in real terms, than it used to be - or is that just my imagination ?
I have tried so many different things for straining my wax, but pantyhose is brilliant! I have honey to bottle today, and look forward to straining my wax due to your helpful video! Aren't we so blessed for these amazing creatures that share their bountiful harvest with us!!!
Terrific video. Very informative. I was fascinated by the processes you used. I'll be keeping an eye out for more of your fine programming!
I have refiled wax for quite some time as hobbie, and in my experience the best material to filter it is 100% cotton coth, you loose a little of wax, but the result is wonderfuly pure. and you gain some waxed cloth too, very useful for a lot of things, from waxing wood tofire starters
I make a lot of metal sculptures and do blacksmithing. I love using beeswax on some of my more traditional pieces or anything that will touch food as a metal finish. It protects the metal from rusting and gives it a very traditional look, compared to painting it with a clearcoat, for example.
what an excellent video. thanks so much for doing this and showing us all the steps. beautiful product!
Love the Colour your bees wax came out.. it's like gold 👀
A very interesting and well-made video Wes. I never thought about the wax but I love honey and have eaten many different types and it does vary by the plant type they get their nectar from. So I would imagine the wax is the same way. Thanks for sharing.
My mother found a jar of honey in a special foods store up in new york city. It was labeled Leatherwood Honey. Imported of course. It had a very interesting flavor. She loved it. Me .... not so much. 😝
Me and my wife Love your videos loads of love from an amatuer beekeeper in Scotland 😂👍
Thanks for this very instructive video. I'm a Dutchman living in Bolivia (South-America) setting up my ecological homestead on 3.5 acres, and I've just started my first two bee hives. A was wondering how to separate the wax from all the rubbish, and your video explained it to me JUST PERFECTLY!
So thanks a lot and I wish you well,
Hans
That pour at the end was so beautiful. The amber colour!
I'm terrified of stinging insects, so I won't ever keep bees but this is fascinating and I plan to watch the whole thing.
I love how cross compatible all the skills involved in the more down to earth processes have. Because I saw your method for cleaning the beeswax and filtering it and my brain immediately went - hey that's also how you harvest/clean tallow! Right down to the tallow/wax cake forming as it cools above the impurity filled water
Amazing to watch the process and if I wasn't frightened of getting stung, I would be adding beehives to the list of things I would love to have in a property
I was thinking the same thing, but for the chemistry classes I took in college! Especially organic chemistry lab, which was a lot of filtration and separation of different substances from mixtures.
When I lived near my grandma, she had three hives. She makes the candles and sells them all by herself. She also sold the honey. I fondly remember standing in her old kitchen and uncapping wax combs, spinning out the honey and then cutting up the comb. She would melt it in a big metal pan on the stove to purify it.
The color of that wax is gorgeous! Only Mother Nature can come up with it. Great job!!
I’ve built a solar wax melter for my cappings. It cleans most particles from the wax. If using the wax for candle making it will have to be remelted and filtered. I also use pantyhose for the final filter. You can pour the wax straight into your pans and place them in the freezer for a couple of hours and the wax block will pop right out the pan and not leave any residue on the pan.
I love how curious the bees where throughout the process
I'm a mechanical engineer and this video has no relevance to me whatsoever, it is entertaining none the less
Seems like this is everyone’s first time doing this, including his.
disclaimer: No bee's were harmed in the making of this video, except the ones that have died.
I guess you know, that if you save a chunk of the wax for your shop, every rusty bolt and nut when heated up just apply a little of that wax on the piece and let it melt into the threads. You just found the best of the best penetrating oil there is.
I really enjoyed watching your video. My grandson watched it with me & now he wants to raise bees to make his own wax! He's only 7, so maybe in a few years. :)
Thank you! I have now watched five videos on how to process wax and yours was the best
I always knew you were a real honey!!!
But a candle maker too.....
Be safe and keep up your fantastic content...
Thanks for sharing this, i do something similar at present. I plan to make a Solar Wax Melter as i think is not as messy. I made a porotype this year and it worked reasonable well for me in Ireland (where it doesn't get that hot) I will refine it and plan to make a video for my channel
Gorgeous. I just rendered down some wax and made a few candles. I love bees wax.
I'm a software engineer living in one of the most densly populated urban metropoli in the world (Tokyo), but now I know how to make a candle from pure beezwax. Thank you for this very edutaining video!
the way you explain everything is easy to follow and enjoyable to watch, very cool video, now i'ma gonna go back thru and see what other interesting things you've gotten up to. awesome job sir. you did a real good job explaining everything in detail in a way an old ape like myself can understand and enjoy :) i always wanted bees when i was little, i dunno why, i guess because i was allergic to honey bees tho so i never did it( one year i ate SO much honey because i was trying to make myself no allergic to honey bees, no idea why i thought eating honey would help, but i love bees and i hated being allergic, i wanted to watch them do their stuff without being terrified of dying lol)
That's so interesting! And I have huge respect for this guy. I am afraid by bees. So I could never do that.
Thank you so much for your video! I followed all the steps, and I have a beautiful cake of wax! I just bought some candle molds on Amazon! Can’t wait to make a candle. Thanks again for a great demonstration.❤
This is really neat, thanks for sharing this! I never knew how bee's wax was made, this was very informative. Have a great day!
Which brand of blowtorch do you recommend as best for holding down parchment paper?
I love educational videos and also have a very bad fear of bees and wasps. So this is both fascinating and pure nightmare fuel at the same time.
Alex, here is a difference between bees and wasps. Wasps are aggressive, for no reason they will fly to you to sting you. Bees are not aggressive. It’s like they are busy looking for pollen, loving life etc and aren’t looking for someone to sting for no reason like a wasp. It’s kind of hard to believe but it’s like some people just look for trouble and some people are friendly.
Wow. That’s awesome. That candle was large plus the 3 more slabs. That’s productive!
I used to melt my wax using a solar heater. I just lined a box with foil covered styrofoam and placed trays of cappings in it. It got warm enough to make the wax flow and be captured. Worked great.
To clean up wax, bring a heat source. No known enzyme, acid, base or solvent will help you. Only heat can, besides bees that is - but bees aren't that obedient.
And the last part, a small correction. You are correct in what you are saying, but it's not the whole truth. I think your wax contained more honey than the other one, which would make sense considering the honey-water solution being used. So the reason for the difference between the waxes is, I think, simply methods used to produce said waxes. Quality of the honey does affect the wax though, I'm not saying you are wrong about that.
Bees wax turns darker when you heat it up that hot. I try and just get the wax to melt, and not boil before starting the process. There are also ways to get mor wax out of the crud if you force all the crud to the bottom with a filter then slowly the wax seep through the filter UP in the pot. The pot needs to be heated just to about 147F for a long period of time as the wax slowly makes it way UP.
I absolutely agree. I kept around 20 hives years back and always had a lot of wax to deal with. it does not take a great deal more effort to do a class 1 job. I had a pretty good finishing system, soaking it through fine cloth filter bags in a well insulated solar box.
Even the cruddy rubbish and product from the filters would get sticks dipped or coated for firelighters. Sadly I got steadily worse and worse reactions to bee stings till I eventually had to pack up before I came to a sticky end.
I love using beeswax to finish wood. It leave a beautiful color!
I’m a leather worker! I use beeswax for my thread when stitching things up. It helps binds it so it doesn’t fray. :)
As a honey lover, i have been quite aware of how widely the color and taste of honey can varry as a result of which palnts predominate in the vicinity of the hive. I confess feeling a little surprise that the wax is also affected; I had never even thought about that.
A honey lover myself Craig and I totally agree. I think most people don't realize it but honey does have many different flavors according to which plants they get the nectar from ... and I imagine dido for the wax.
I use paint strainers and it works very well with little hassle!
It's fun to see that wax have some kind of memory, as the combs shapes appears as it cools down.
Thanks for your video!
Much love and appreciation from Egypt ❤🥰
벌은 정말 소중해🥰.. 나도 양초 저렇게 만들어보고 싶다 너무 멋진 공예야.
Most plastic window screen is made from polyester, which has a melting point of 482 F (295 C). Since your water boils at 212 F (100 C), and your wax melts at 144-147 F (62-64 CC). That plastic screen should withstand anything you can throw at it.
That wax came out gorgeous, really beautiful color.
It’s super random recommendations like these that I always love to see. I may never need or be able to use this information, but it sure was entertaining to learn about
you ever think of putting something into the cooling wax to act as a handle when your going to pull it out?
This was crazy interesting. I love how all the bees stop by to help and see what you’re doing! Do you just get used to bees everywhere all the time? Thanks for sharing.
Ofcourse they aint tryna help him, they probably just sense that theres some sugar with the wax and dip in there to die for some reason.
Nothing but respect for beekeepers-They are the one of the reasons this planet and species may survive...
I never expected this to be as interesting as it was. Nice work!
Did he actually catch his microphone on fire?
Yes, you can smoke on the camera
Yes
Your wax is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.
As someone who reenacts French and Indian war I really appreciate a good beeswax candle. Even relatively small ones can be stuck in a lantern and burn for hours. It's one of our "if we see it buy some" items.
The fact that the wax you got is so deeply yellow tells me that those girls were very very happy and healthy. Good job man.
I love this video. You did an amazing job at explaining the process. I am confident I could do this now
Liquid gold right there, i never thought I would find this so interesting, but I sure did, very satisfying
This is awesome dude, you have a great approach to bee keeping. Fun to watch even for people who will never perform this hobby. Rock on!
This was a great video. always have a lot of scraps when cleaning my hives. Now I know I can collect it. I have a friend who is always looking to buy wax for her candle business. Thank you.