Cappings to beeswax for candlemaking.............

[redhawknc1]

I am a 2nd year beekeeper. Did well I thought this year. Have 6 hives and plan to expand to a total of 12. Have been collecting my cappings and was wanting to put them to use. I am considering candlemaking and my wife has a interest also. How do I render these cappings into beeswax suitable for beeswax candles? Would like to start simple. Can I just put the wax in an old crockpot and let the wax rise to the top? What is a cheap but good method? Any help or pointers to how to start would be welcome!

[SweetBettyBees]

Do a search within this thread and in the general and 101 threads. There's been a plethera of expert advice given on this very question quite recently.

I have followed the suggestions on boiling the cappings in water with excellent - actually, amazing - results. I use two pots, pouring from one into the other first through a paint strainer and then through a double layer of Bounty. (someone explains that in the thread). You can clip the paper towels on the edge of the pot with clothes pins or something similer. Be careful, molten wax will blister.

(I had a friend confess that in an honorable effort to avoid kitchen mess he took his brew outside to filter. Steaming honey water + 8 hives of bees nearby = a really big show.)

Let the molten wax cool - it will float to the top in what will look like a beautiful cake of yellow cornmeal. It smells heavenly.

How much water? You need an amount sufficient to take on the honey that remains in the cappings, but you don't want so much that the pot boils over. My water to cappings ratio was about 3 to 1 in volume before melting - the eventual yeild of wax seems much smaller but will be a solid mass. You can change water between "coolings", but remember that until the wax hardens it's floating on the water sort of like liquid chicken fat, so don't pour off any water until your wax is cool and floating. Even when you have a solid mass on top there may be liquid was underneath. The mass of wax on the top will hold the heat in for a good while.

You may decide to filter more than once, it gets easier each time, but you loose some wax in the paper towels each time.

Good luck - I'm betting you'll find this to be just one more added pleasure of beekeeping!

[GaSteve]

I like how the water helps pull crud out of the wax, but I can never get all the water out. My candles always fizzle for about the first quarter to half inch, then burn perfectly the rest of the way. I'm sure it's from water sinking to the bottom of the mold (which is the top of the candle).