Rendering bees wax. How many times is necessary?

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I always have a great sense of accomplishment when I take a bunch of old, dirt, roach eaten, worn out, dried and crumbly, dirty, nasty old bees wax, and transform it into a beautiful block of sweet smelling, usable bees wax.

I have been saving my wax since January when I did my rotations, and even though I keep the wax stored in heavy duty, dark plastic bags inside of the honey house, the other day I saw beetle maggots coming out of the bag. It was then I decided I needed to render some wax. Heck, if you look hard enough at the wax when it is inside of the kettle before I start melting it, you can see some of the maggots.....really gross. In truth, it feels kind of good to knowing I killed a bunch of beetle maggots, and wax moth maggots I'm sure, with the heat from the kettle.

So what do I do with the wax after it's rendered? Mainly, I remelt it and roll it on plastic foundation, video soon to be made, and give it back to the bees to draw out and use once again. You will not believe how fast bees draw out comb when you ;lace newly rolled frames of foundation in their hive. I have discovered that being generous when applying the hot wax to the frames works in my favor, the bees draw out the comb even faster. And don't worry, if you've put on to much wax, the bees will take the excess and use it where they think is the best place for it.

I did get a small clip in this video for all you Purple Martin lovers, so bee ready for that interruption. The Martins are nest building right now, and their song is so lovely to hear. One of the monks at the abbey, Brother Brian, was able to get the Martins back at the abbey about 7 years ago after many years of absence. With at least 50 breeding pairs present, the Dawn Song can be heard at the abbey from mid February to mid July almost every morning.

Our Swarm Catch Challenge is really picking up speed as well as numbers of participants. It's great to see familiar faces, but I want new ones as well. So, if you catch a swarm and you'd like to see it on one of my videos, just send the picture or short video to my email address at, [email protected] and I will put it in a video. Remember, by sending me your video or picture, you are giving me permission to publish it on one of my videos. Finally, to get it on my video, you will need to get your face in the shot. Veil or not, just make sure we get a shot of you. Thanks again to all who have sent in their pictures already. God's peace to all. Mr. Ed


Music that accompanied swarm shots is titled " Campfire Song'" and can be found on Youtube's audio library.