Wax Melter

Here it is, the new wax melter.

It's a stainless steel box, made custom for someone who ended up not wanting it.

I put a camp stove under it to warm it up.  I need to upgrade to a propane double burner, the camp stove just almost could do it.  This thing is the perfect size, it's about 24 inches long by 18 inches wide (perfect for setting frames on) and like 20 inches deep.  What you see in it there is about 25 frames worth of wax.  I know it doesn't look like much now, but eventually, there will be enough wax for the slumgum to sink to the bottom leaving the good wax at the top.  I had wanted to build one out of a steel sheet metal spool center, but now that I think about it, it probably would have rusted immediately.  This will last forever.

It probably won't pay for itself in wax sales for a while, but it definitely does by saving time stripping the frames.  Does anyone have a heavy duty camp stove they'd be willing to give up?

Solomon

Parker Farms Now Offers Beeswax.

What you see above are little wax cupcakes.  I needed a mold to put the wax in for sales, but I needed it small enough in case I didn't have enough wax to fill the mold when I melt it in my solar oven.  So I found these little silicone cupcake mold thingies and they work wonderfully.  I will probably at some point invest in real molds, but for now, these are fun. 

As you can see, different batches of wax come out different colors.  The yellower wax came from moth eaten comb, and the more tan colored stuff came from a solar wax melter that I built back in Oregon, and not moth eaten.  What you see is about 3 lbs. (2 oz. per cake) that I have processed so far, and I have plenty more to do.

At this point, I'm charging $5 per pound.  Tell me what you think.
Sol Parker