The waxy paper towels then make good fire starters!
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Yes! Except during a dearth when you mistakenly leave them outside and the bees annihilate them! 🤦🏼♂️🤣
@DialedN_07 Жыл бұрын
If I could make a recommendation, it would be to not use two paper towels turned into 4 paper towels. Exactly the opposite in fact. Take your 2ply paper towel and tear the two layers apart. Use only 1ply of paper towel and put it over the small holes. It's more than adequate and you will lose 4x less wax that is absorbed into the paper towel. Also, put a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of your drippings tray and it will self-separate some of that gunk for you.
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Excellent! Thank you!!
@Platypus2012 Жыл бұрын
It's stainless steel not aluminum. I just got my first block out of mine and I'm lovin' it. Also I rinse my wax in a 5 gal bucket. The honey dissolves and the wax floats. Super easy and you get cleaner wax and less caramel on the tray.
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Right on!
@glennsnaturalhoney4571 Жыл бұрын
Like mine. If you need an extra tray you can get mud trays at hw store the same size. Much cheaper than ordering.
@BrianCooper901 Жыл бұрын
Looks good! I just got one from HillCo and it's pretty much identical. I typically re-render in my solar waxmelter. I find the honey seems to block up the paper towels so it goes quicker on the second melt because there is not as much stuff to filter and the wax runs right through. Solar wax melters are the way to go. Great video thanks for sharing!
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Awesome! Thanks for watching!!
@primitivedaisy Жыл бұрын
Yes, and it’s cheaper at Hillco too!
@kathysarmcandy1992 Жыл бұрын
First, rinse your cappings in enough warm water to stir with a hand. Strain that off and fill feeders to set out. The'll tear that up in short order. Great August feed. Then get on with melting.
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Good tip!
@ejrupp95557 ай бұрын
YUP! Before you heat it, just rinse it and use that in a feeder. I use a t-shirt sewn into a bag ... stuff it and pitch it in 5 gallon bucket ... sit covered for a day with something to weigh it down. The next day, I just ring it out and stuff that into another t-shirt bag. Get another bucket of boiling water and pitch it in. Temp should drop below 150F in a few seconds. Then I use a PID controller (old sous vide wand) to keep it 150F for a 12 hours. Take the wax puck the next day and use a hand plane to take off the crude underneath ... about 5%. Super color and clean. Never had to re-melt the wax.
@inharmonywithearth998210 ай бұрын
Lyson at Betterbee has a huge stainless steel solar melter that can even hold several whole big brood or honey super frames at once and even sterilize your old wax moth or hive beetle ruined frames and clean absolutely all the bad wax and propolis off of them. It cost alot more than that little plastic one though.
@jaynedavis338811 ай бұрын
Try using oven trays of glass or ceramic to collect your wax in the solar melter
@beesintheweeds11 ай бұрын
Good tip! Thanks!
@mikethebeeguy86579 ай бұрын
Leave the cappings out for a day, let the bees clean the honey off & store it into their hive. Just put it away from the hives. Don’t overthink it. 🍯🐝 MikeTheBeeGuy 👨🚀
@beesintheweeds9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the tip. 👍🏼
@Ovenmitt1235 ай бұрын
Bees wax melts at around 145f, easily enough temperature to create 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in the honey. This can make bees sick. This would not be good for refeeding. A small amount of it probably won't hurt them but I would try to avoid it.
@beesintheweeds5 ай бұрын
Great tip! This is good to know.
@Jimhamby8596 ай бұрын
Very nice!
@luchts45472 ай бұрын
Does this work only with relatively clean cappings/wax or is it effective to melt down gnarly old dark wax from old frames?
@beesintheweeds2 ай бұрын
It will melt the old, gnarly wax as well but the yield is lower because of all the impurities. Hope this helps!
@luchts45472 ай бұрын
@@beesintheweeds makes sense, thank you!
@primitivedaisy Жыл бұрын
Hillco has this exact melter for $150. Only difference is you don’t get two trays. What happened to my original post?
@beesintheweeds Жыл бұрын
Good price! And I’m not sure, should be there. 🤷🏼♂️
@glennsnaturalhoney4571 Жыл бұрын
Extra trays can be bought at hw store. They are just drywall mud trays.
@joshuascott3081 Жыл бұрын
@@glennsnaturalhoney4571 Excellent tip!
@harrypierce27068 ай бұрын
The plastic box will warp and lets bees get in on top of