Wax Cappings Smell Fermented

[weebee]

We melted our first batch of cappings in the solar melter yesterday. The wax smells fermented to me. My husband says it is just the smell of the honey. We've rendered wax with no honey in it and I liked the smell of it a lot better. Is there anything we might be doing wrong with the cappings or is that just how it smells?

The cappings drained honey overnight and then we soaked them in luke warm water for an hour. Drained and set out to dry for a day. Now we are putting batches in the solar wax melter. Thanks.

[JohnK and Sheri]

We have bought fermented smelling wax from people that washed their cappings in water and then left them for a month or more before rendering. The wax had such a strong fermented aroma that we could not use it for anything other than industrial use. It surprises me that it would ferment that quickly but offhand I would say there was water mixed with honey in the cappings that fermented, causing the odor.
Sheri