Most beekeepers accumulate beeswax in the form of cappings, old combs, and bits of wax. Too often, these sources of wax are wasted needlessly because the beekeeper does not go to the trouble of melting or rendering them. With the current price of beeswax about $1.8O per pound, wax production can be a worthwhile part of your operation. Generally, 1 to 2 pounds of wax can be obtained from every 100 pounds of honey produced.

A solar beeswax extractor is a safe, efficient way of rendering wax with a minimum of effort and energy consumption. (See Figure 47.) This extractor produces wax of high quality and eliminates the need for the sometimes hazardous job of rendering wax in the home or honey house.

A solar extractor is a glass-covered box that uses the sun's rays to melt beeswax so it will separate from honey and other materials normally mixed with the beeswax. The extractor can be used to render old combs, cappings, burr comb, and other hive scrapings containing beeswax. It is also handy for removing beeswax from the queen excluders. Collect the cappings, old combs, and bits of wax in wire baskets and place them on the sloping metal tray below the glass cover. Maximum exposure to the sun is obtained with a glass surface sloping about 15°. Honey and melted wax drain quickly to the storage pan below. The melted wax will flow more easily if the combs, excluders, and capping baskets are set on metal rods or angle iron so they are slightly raised above the floor of the melting tray. A window screen may be placed across the pan's outlet, so unmelted pieces of comb and other debris do not flow into the pan of molten wax. If the angle is not too steep, little or no dirt will flow into the catch pan. The collecting pan should have sloping sides so the wax cake can be removed easily.

Internal temperatures well above the melting point of beeswax, about 145° F, are maintained on warm sunny days. In very hot weather, the rendered wax should be removed from the extractor regularly, because the wax will darken if subjected to high temperatures for long periods. The solar wax extractor should be placed in a protected location on the south side of a building, or at least where it is protected against the prevailing winds which lower the temperature in the extractor.

Research has shown that extractor efficiency can be improved by using a glass cover consisting of two panes of double-strength glass about 1/4 inch apart and by placing a piece of fiberboard insulation under the melting pan. This design helps to retain the absorbed heat.

The outside of the box should be painted black and the inside, white. The size of the extractor needed depends on the amount of wax to be rendered. An extractor that is 2 feet wide and 3 feet long will handle all of the wax from up to sixty hives of bees. The solar extractor is highly attractive to robber bees due to the odors given off by the warm honey and wax. It should be kept tightly closed except when being loaded or when the filled collecting pan is being removed.

The solar extractor eliminates the need to render old combs and cappings by melting the wax in containers of boiling water and then straining the mixtures through layers of cloth. In addition to being time consuming and messy, this method poses a continual fire hazard because the wax may boil over and run down to the heat source below.

Figure 47. Solar beeswax extractor positioned to receive maximum radiation from the sun and protection from prevailing winds. Placing the extractor on wheels allows it to be moved to face into the sun. (Courtesy of John Harchuck.)

The solar wax extractor is safe and efficient.

(Plans for the solar wax extractor are being redrawn and will be made available soon.)