Bee's Wax

[shane a gress]

Local bee keeper on craigslist had wax @ $5.00 a lb. I thought that was nuts expensive, seems I must connect with him and grab some!

How does one clean beeswax?

That's more like it. I'll have check around, there are some local beekeepers in the area. When I go to Old Bedford Village this spring for the gun show I can check and see where they get the beeswax for the candle shop.

 

[Black Hand]

How does one clean beeswax?

Melt the wax and strain through cloth to remove parts & chunks. Place wax in a pot of water and simmer. Allow to cool/solidify and scrape the chunks off the bottom. Repeat several times until the wax is clean.

 

[azmntman]

Thanks, not sure its clean but for that price I doubt it, maybe though, he offers bees wax lip balm and candles as well?

 

[Ames]

Check with your county extension agent. There are beekeepers everywhere. Contact one of them. Sometimes if you purchase some honey you might just be given some of their wax. It is really a scrap product to them. You will have to clean it but that is not a big deal.

Sorry, but I have kept bees for years and the wax is not a scrap product at all.
I sell hundreds of pounds of honey at $7 a lb., but the wax brings $10 a lb. It sells at twice that much if I pour candles out of it.
You can refine your wax in a can set into a double boiler. Outside is best for safety. Never try it over direct heat as it is very flammable. Once melted, pour it through a cheesecloth into a plastic container. Bee parts get caught by the cloth. Throw the cloth away. Any honey or liquids still in the wax settles out below the wax. The next day pop out the wax loaf and give it a quick rinse to get any sticky honey off the bottom. Done.

 

[Le Loup]

Where can I find beeswax? I looked in a few nests in the barn but they were empty or the bees had moved it.

Look up apiarists in the phone book. Some will give beeswax for free, others will put a price on it.
Keith.

 

[Brent]

Where can I find beeswax? I looked in a few nests in the barn but they were empty or the bees had moved it.

Those were not bee nests or hives. They were almost certainly wasps. Probably paper wasps.

If you call or google your state agricultural university, you should find it has an extension service. From there you will find someone that is knowledgeable about bees and beekeeping and from there a list of apiarists in your area.

I raise my own bees as a hobby, and I can tell you $15 a lb for clean beeswax is a steal. Never yet seen a rich beekeeper.

 

[shane a gress]

Those were not bee nests or hives. They were almost certainly wasps. Probably paper wasps.

If you call or google your state agricultural university, you should find it has an extension service. From there you will find someone that is knowledgeable about bees and beekeeping and from there a list of apiarists in your area.

I raise my own bees as a hobby, and I can tell you $15 a lb for clean beeswax is a steal. Never yet seen a rich beekeeper.

Wasp's don't make honey?

 

[user 30836]

If you've got an N-SSA.org organization in your area, there is usually somebody selling beeswax in pound quantities at their gatherings. Other than that, Amazon and Ebay have been useful. Avoid the craft stores if you can. Theirs is food grade and pretty expensive.

 

[Black Hand]

Wasp's don't make honey?

The species in this country don't appear to produce honey in any significant quantities (if any at all). There are other wasp species that do...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Sorry, but I have kept bees for years and the wax is not a scrap product at all.
I sell hundreds of pounds of honey at $7 a lb., but the wax brings $10 a lb. It sells at twice that much if I pour candles out of it.
You can refine your wax in a can set into a double boiler. Outside is best for safety. Never try it over direct heat as it is very flammable. Once melted, pour it through a cheesecloth into a plastic container. Bee parts get caught by the cloth. Throw the cloth away. Any honey or liquids still in the wax settles out below the wax. The next day pop out the wax loaf and give it a quick rinse to get any sticky honey off the bottom. Done.

Ames, the beekeepers I have known consider the wax scrap and either give away or toss. But there is one in the area who also makes crafts and sells stuff at shows. She goes around and collects free wax then casts into candles and figurines and sells at a pretty big profit. She knows when the honey is being collected and jumps on the free wax before others can get to it. I had to buy mine from her at premium prices.

 

[TFoley]

Those were not bee nests or hives. They were almost certainly wasps. Probably paper wasps.

If you call or google your state agricultural university, you should find it has an extension service. From there you will find someone that is knowledgeable about bees and beekeeping and from there a list of apiarists in your area.

I raise my own bees as a hobby, and I can tell you $15 a lb for clean beeswax is a steal. Never yet seen a rich beekeeper.

One of the civilians who worked with me me about twenty years ago was a beekeeper who gave up after becoming intolerant to their stings. He sold me fifty pounds of his finest I'm still using it today. A little goes a long way in fluxing or making up lube for my Miniés. When we see it for sale at craft fairs or the like it's priced as though it was Frankincense or Myrrh.

 

[Coot]

Mrs Coot & I also kept bees for years. The wax is not scrap. The wax can be cleaned & sold for good money as so many on Ebay and Amazon are doing. The uncleaned wax can also be left out for the bees to reclaim. Once the honeycomb is capped & honey emptied out, the frames holding it can simply be returned to the hive supers for the bees to clean, repair & reuse. The less time that the bees spend making wax & building honeycombs, the more time that they have to produce honey. We never threw the wax away.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Wasp's don't make honey?

Nope. Many are carnivores (insectivores?) and put a stunned critter in with the young for food. Yellowjackets and ground wasps eat fruit or pollen and "spit up" to the young, but they do not produce wax. They are more like flying ants. The hives are mud and vegetable matter but no honey.

The "paper" makes good wadding for smoothbores.

 

[shane a gress]

Lol! Thanks for the entomology lesson, but I am well aware that wasps don't produce honey.
Well Stumpkiller I may have to collect some off those wasp nests that have been collecting in the barn since the late 1800's (it is that old). I will try it in my smoothbore. It is loaded with a patched ball at the moment. It has been raining here in southern PA so I had to come in to dry the lock.
I plan on making some patch lube with the wax I got the other evening. Gonna get the other ingredients when I venture into town this week.

 

[Stumpkiller]

We have a big 'ol hornet's nest hanging over the pasture that I am keeping an eye on.

Make sure you split it and take out the contents while it is still frozen. You don't want a bunch of white-faced hornets to start asking questions about home invasion when they warm up out of their stupor.

 

[nit wit]

Where can I find beeswax? I looked in a few nests in the barn but they were empty or the bees had moved it.

S: You won't find Bee's wax in hornets or wasp's nests. Honey bees make bee's wax.
Nit Wit

 

[shane a gress]

S: You won't find Bee's wax in hornets or wasp's nests. Honey bees make bee's wax.
Nit Wit

Well I'll be darned! What have I been putting on my biscuits all these years?

 

[Black Hand]

S: You won't find Bee's wax in hornets or wasp's nests. Honey bees make bee's wax.
Nit Wit

Well I'll be darned! What have I been putting on my biscuits all these years?

Not beeswax, I hope...

 

[Coot]

Not beeswax, I hope...

A number of folks like to eat honey in the comb (eat comb and all). I haven't looked lately but it used to be sold in stores right next to the pure honey.

 

[Enfieldguy]

I get mine from a local apiary for $1.25 an ounce or $10 per pound. 1 pound will go a long way. I use it straight for my Pritchett cartridges and cut it 8:1 with mutton tallow for my combustible pistol rounds.