How to filter beeswax with a t-shirt! (New beekeepers, don't waste your scraps of old brood comb!)

When you melt comb from your beehive for the first time, it can be quite a challenge to get the wax clean. Most of the cocoons and dead bees will be at the bottom of your cake of wax, but some of the debris will be in the middle of the wax unless you filter the liquid wax under water.

If you are having trouble getting your beeswax clean enough for making soaps or candles, all you need is some rocks and an old rag. If you don't have an old pantyhose lying around, an old t-shirt works just fine.

Wrap the wax in the t-shirt and place it in your wax melting pot. Put rocks on the edges of the t-shirt to hold the t-shirt down, so the whole thing doesn't float to the top of the water. Then add your water, and melt the wax on low heat. The clean liquid wax will go through the t-shirt and pool on top of the water, leaving ALL the debris stuck inside the shirt. The bottom of the wax cake will be as clean as the top.


Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:15 - the old nasty wax cake from the first rendering
0:32 - Wrapping dirty wax in old t-shirt
0:50 - Putting rocks on wrapped wax cake
1:38 - Wax pellets!
2:27 - When is it cool enough to take out?
2:46 - Wow, that wax is clean!
2:53 - What's left in the t-shirt?


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