Wax Dipping Boxes & Hive Parts

[Hamp54]

I agree with KJ. I use birch and on a warmer winter day get a good fire going in my fire pit and boil away. To reduce the amount of wax, I place concrete blocks in the middle of my wax box when boiling frames, uses way less wax. I like to darken my boxes with a weed burner to help absorb winter radiance.

The concrete blocks sound like a great idea!

[simplynatural]

I hope this is not an inappropriate place to ask my questions on wax dipping. I noticed on the older post Curtis mentioned use of a 100quart stock pot. The one he posted a link to is $270 but there are a great many aluminum ones out there for more like $70 - is there some obvious reason to not use aluminum? We are just doing 3-6 hives total so do not need anything large at all! Or if there is a better lower cost alternative I'm sure open to it!
Also, what are your favorite sources for the rosin, microcrystalline, and wax? Any idea on quantities I would be needing for a 100 quart stock pot (as I have no pot at this moment and am ordering supplies Is the ratio still 2:1 when using rosin? Nobody commented on the microcrystalline vs. rosin - any thoughts yet?
edited - I did look at Mann Lake for rosin, but no searches came up with anything.
Thank you guys!

[Mr. C]

Wax and rosin is cheaper. Wax is cheapest at candlewic.com, you want the 140 degree melt temp stuff.
http://www.candlewic.com/store/Produ...raffin-Wax-140

JH Calo will ship bags of rosin, best price I could find.

I built my tank 26lx22wx36h (inches). The bottom is 1/4 steel, sides 1/8 inch, the telescoping cover and splash guard is 1/16 inch steel.

It took me 400lbs of wax and 55lbs of Rosin to fill it sufficiently to start.

I have a 150,000 BTU banjou classic burner that sits in a pit with heavy fire bricks around it. I'd like to insulate it some to save propane, I tend to dip earlier in the spring, hopefully I can wait for warmer weather this year.

I can dip 3deeps or 5 mediums, ot like 7-10 tops/bottom boards at once.

Whatever you do don't paint the inside of the tank with heat resistant paint because I have to scrape blobs of black paint off as it flakes off the sides. Oh well live and learn..

It cost me 1000-1200 dollars to set up.

[Rader Sidetrack]

If you would like to have wax dipped hive bodies, but can't justify the expense of setting up your own wax tank, you can buy "dipped" woodenware from Country Rubes:

http://store.countryrubes.com/hivebodies.aspx

[779Hybrid410]

Or just use a weed burner and get several 1-2lb bars of wax. Slowly heat the wood, with a low setting on the weed burner, and run your bar of wax over the heated wood. The wood will soak up the wax, if heated properly. If you have the burner set correctly, you can see when the wax starts boiling as bubbles appear. I pre-heat my boxes next to my shop stove to +100F. You can obtain a nice burnt look, which helps absorb thermal mass.

[779Hybrid410]

Oh, as Mr. C says, don't paint the inside, (same lesson learned). The wax does just great to preserve the interior.

[simplynatural]

Are you making your own "wax bars" out of rosin and wax or are you just using wax? What kind of life do you get out of your boxes?
Thank you

[779Hybrid410]

Just regular bar wax, you can find on ebay or local apiaries. In my harsh environment, with lots of wind 6-8 years.

[Mr. C]

I meant don't paint the inside of the wax tank... mine was cold rolled steel, not stainless so I painted it to prevent rust until it was filled.

[simplynatural]

Just regular bar wax, you can find on ebay or local apiaries. In my harsh environment, with lots of wind 6-8 years.

Do you then rewax them or are they no longer usable?
Thanks so much!

[779Hybrid410]

Mostly re-wax. Or in my climate (wind) turn a grayish colour.

[mmmooretx]

If you would like to have wax dipped hive bodies, but can't justify the expense of setting up your own wax tank, you can buy "dipped" woodenware from Country Rubes:

http://store.countryrubes.com/hivebodies.aspx

I will second this! I only can have 5-6 hives (in-town residence) so it is cheaper to buy pre-made units rather than building a tank for me. I just finished buying another 2 bases and 20 med. boxes. The postage was far less than the tank build out and wax buy for my needs. This is scale decision driven by how many hives you have. I will vouch for the great quality from Country Rubes and if you have any issues Janet will make it right! Their boxes are made by Shastina and Country Rubes assembles/glues/dips them. Their basses are made in house.

[simplynatural]

You do have a point there and I'm sure they do a great job.
Unfortunately the price different in 15 supers between theirs assembled and shipped and the unassembled ones I'm buying is $314. I can get the wax and container to heat for that and will be able to do future hives also. But it is due to having a BIL who does welding.

[simplynatural]

what horrible things happen if you can't submerge the entire super at once? I found a container that will work, but it would not be safe to submerge the whole box. I thought to just flip it after 10 minutes but maybe that would not work.

[Michael Bush]

>I thought to just flip it after 10 minutes but maybe that would not work.

It works fine. My setup dips one full box, one half box on end and one half box in regular position. Then I remove the box that is done, put a new box at the bottom, flip the two "half done" boxes and cook those. So in two batches I get four boxes done. It works fine.

[bryani289swmi]

Yesterday I went to a friends house as I thought I had seen some tanks there which might suit my purpose for dipping. Turns out he has 3 nice tanks, 28"L X 22"W X 26"H. He gave me one which at most I might sandblast the inside but overall it is very clean. A couple questions:

1. I've seen reference to the paraffin 140 and rosin ration, some say 2 parts paraffin to 1 part rosin. I've also seen others up to 6 parts paraffin to 1 part rosin. Just wondering what a correct ratio would be and if some folks could clear this up.

2. It appears as if there are several types and grades of rosin. Could someone provide a specific type/grade/supplier/part number which works for them. Thanks.

Bryan

[Mr. C]

I think I misposted earlier. I checked my receipts, I got 2x 55lb bags from JH Calo of gum rosin (110lb total). I got 300lbs of the 140 melt point parrafin wax from candlewic.com. I bought stuff two different times and kind of forgot. My tank is really close to the same length and width, but 36inches tall. I think I calculated to fill it 2feet deep, which you won't want to do, but it doesn't hurt to have some on hand for when you work through it.

[mmmooretx]

I think I misposted earlier. I checked my receipts, I got 2x 55lb bags from JH Calo of gum rosin (110lb total). I got 300lbs of the 140 melt point parrafin wax from candlewic.com. I bought stuff two different times and kind of forgot. My tank is really close to the same length and width, but 36inches tall. I think I calculated to fill it 2feet deep, which you won't want to do, but it doesn't hurt to have some on hand for when you work through it.

Take a look at this Aussie study, I think it went into that as well as the micro-crystalline wax. What I found very interesting is that you can re-process your boxes instead of burning them if you get AFB since it kills or encapsulates the spores. The PDF document is about half way down the page.

http://www.queenrightcolonies.com/Paraffin_Hot_Dip.html