How To Render Beeswax from a Honeycomb

This video is about how to render out wax from honey comb using a pot, water and an induction cook top. I wrapped the honey comb with cheese cloth and melted out the wax.
Thanks to Jon Peters for sending the honey comb out to me from his hive. / jonpeters1000
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[@iainhay2823]

Great video a little tip for you ( from a beekeeping chemist) is to add a squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar to the water before you heat it this prevents saponification and you get less of the soapy soft layer on the underside of your cake of set wax. The colour is affected by the propolis in the hive so the older the wax the darker the wax. In addition you want to boil gently for the minimum time possible as excess heat also darkens the wax. If you want really nice almost white wax ask a friendly beekeeper for cappings which are cut off from the top of the cells and generally pure fresh wax. Hope this is useful!

[@JackCamino]

Iain Hay Hi, is it important to remove propolis? is it lower grade beeswax when it contains more propolis? is it preferred a clearer color beeswax? if so, Why? I'll appreciate your reply.

[@iainhay2823]

It's not particularly important, more aesthetic reasons than anything! Some people might argue it means the wax is less pure so yes probably officially it's lower grade but I've never had it cause a problem. Propolis is basically a "glue" made by bees to seal up draughts etc in their home Some bees produce more than others and it's composition varies enormously, it is usually produced from various tree resins and propolis itself is used to make toothpaste and tinctures for sore throats, roisin for stringed instruments etc. Some of it smells lovely and some of it is a complete nightmare for beekeepers as they stick everything together, it's actually worth more than gold by weight. I wouldn't worry too much about propolis it's more important to keep the temperature of wax down when processing it.

[@eps3154]

How would you separate the propolis from the wax, if I may ask?

[@AmitThakur-ph3qo]

Sir, can you tell one thing..that for the use in skin care products, which beeswax is best.. yellow or white??

[@figsworld12]

How do you seperate pure honey from the wax.. i had no idea how to cut it.. now honey and wax is in jars... i dont want to destroy the organic pureness of the honey..

[@AlbertaBushcrafter]

Excellent video, Linn! I traded some hand-made deer antler pens for about 30 pounds of unfiltered processed beeswax a few years ago. It took a couple of hours to filter it and I still have about 25 pounds left so I'm going to use a bit of it to make the furniture polish you described. And this year I have a few local honey producers that have raw honeycomb, so your video will be even more helpful later this year. Thanks again!

[@suavechicjg]

Sounds like a cool trade!!

[@hauteswan2541]

Love it. I used beeswax from my friends bee farm to make my own furniture wax using 1/3 cup clean beeswax 1/3 cup olive oil (melted in the microwave 30 seconds at a time in an old jar) then when melted added about 1/3 cup lemon juice and 40 drops lemongrass essential oil (because i was out of lemon.) It came out wonderful and worked perfectly on my furniture and on stainless steel. I am so excited. (I made it to use on freshly painted chairs and on some other items to test it. Wonderful wax finish. I am going to store it in the fridge since it has olive oil and lemon juice in it. (Beware you must check often when in the microwave and take 10 second breaks in between melting. When it is almost done melting stop and keep stirring and the wax will melt down in the oil. If you microwave too long you could overheat the jar)

[@JennySimon206]

Baking soda and washing soda dissolve oils and waxes for cleaning. I wipe as much with paper towels as I can then soak in blue dawn dish soap, baking soda, washing soda and sometimes borax.

[@tomasolaerts]

I've watched this clip 7 times in the last hour. Other than the great tutorial on wax, I love how your voice is soothing and calming. Keep up the good work !

[@darbinorvar]

tomas olaerts Thanks!

[@danieltranchida4009]

I have watched your videos for sometime now. I have been interested in making candles, so it was a nice surprise seeing you here. My wife past away yr. Ago so between wood working and now beeswax, been trying to keep busy. Thanks so much😊

[@olekaudeala1684]

Watching this gave me the confidence I treated my New Wax (Dika Wax) and offered me the avenues for improvement in refining the wax. I am confident I can handle beeswax in hives thrown away by farmers in Nigeria.

[@nouraelmoghazy8988]

Great video very simple and straight forward with no nonsense and unnecessary steps unlike other videos.

[@P.E.R.fishingadventures]

Thanks for that! As a rookie woodturner i find this very usefull,thanks!

[@beebob1279]

I've rendered beeswax for years as a small beekeeper. If you come across a small amount this way is fine. But larger amounts can be done so much easier by adding a colander in the process

[@heathersprouse2391]

Wonderful, helpful video. I used this as part of how I taught myself to render my own wax. We have beehives, so I have a lot of comb and now am making lots of wax products. Cool! Thanks.

[@noahriding5780]

What should you do if you've got more honey mixed in with the wax than you like? Most the beeswax rendering videos talk about if the wax is mostly already separated. I didn't initially understand how to separate them until I'd made this mistake. Thanks.

[@TacticalPoppins]

Thank you! Finally a full informational video that answered all my questions about rendering my bee’s wax

[@GarageWoodworks]

Very cool Linn. I watched a video a few months back where someone was purifying wax similar to your method. They had to scrape off the propolis. Does your method require this?

[@darbinorvar]

GarageWoodworks Thanks BriaN. I am more of a "see if it works" kind of person, and it works well. You can tell the honey comb I received from Jon Peters had been subject to cold temps since the comb and the propolis were very brittle and mixed together, but I would call my video an experiment rather than a technique.

[@nvanwensen]

Great video! Thanks! Was looking for what to do with my comb, as I will be starting my beekeeping journey this spring! Thinking of stealing this idea as well as making candles.

[@mashaelll]

Thank you soo much for this tutorial, I need rendered beeswax for an eos( lip balm) refill at home, and we happen to have some raw honeycomb at home! I will try this asap and hopefully, the results are amazing!

[@MrCaneast]

That's a great idea to wrap the comb in cheesecloth to filter out the dirt. This is my first time and have been putting it off, since I have so much accumulated. Other videos shows them just putting the comb into the water and separating the dirt out later which would be time consuming.

[@debbieexcell5088]

Informative and the instructions were clear and easy to follow 👍🏻

[@marquisbois990]

Your videos are great Linn, I learn something and somehow they make me feel calm too!

[@bereketukumo291]

It is great wow

[@jvang120]

Really the best video on the subject with the most delightful, calming voice. May I ask why you use plastic to pour the water wax for setting? I would have thought the heat could be tricky for a plastic container.

[@JonPetersArtHome]

Great video Linn, I really enjoyed it

[@animalyze7120]

Great tutorial! I recommend using a paper towel rather than a paper/screen coffee filter. The flow is great for Beeswax and it's finer material really cleans all the unneeded particles out, leaving you with a very nice chunk of pure beeswax. Also it can be hard to have a friend give you complete honeycomb, usually you'll get the wax cap scrapings from the honey harvesting. This isn't bad as the wax cap part of the comb is generally much cleaner as it's freshly done, rather than a reused comb piece that turns darker with age. Either way though if you like Bee Bread and Bees wax definitely think about raising bees or having a good circle of friends that do. Every part of the Bee keeping hobby is 100% natural and every part including dead bees from Winter can be used in remedies, foods and all kinds of other practical uses. Great hobby!

[@chrisprickett551]

Very informative and nice and short! My attention span and I appreciate it!

[@deeschafer4278]

This was a great video to watch. Darbin was awesome in the instructions. Thank You!

[@Morbius1963]

Clear, pleasant and succinct instructions. Thank you. (So many bloggers make a meal of it!)

[@ivansince91]

Thank you very much this is the easiest and best video I have found on YT and I saw many.

[@GetHandsDirty]

Very interesting video. Do you find any difference in the final wax with Jon's beeswax from the one you've been buying? Or does it turn out to be just the same at the moment that it is clean?

[@darbinorvar]

Get Hands Dirty Thanks! The only different was the color, the wax from Jon was much more yellow, probably due to the pollen near him. Other than that wax is pretty much the same.

[@mercylopez8171]

This was great, thanks, I have been researching "candle making party" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you heard people talk about - Cenadoelyn Candle Contemplation - (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some decent things about it and my partner got amazing results with it.

[@peredavi]

Great ideas. I’m going to use it to make a few candles from my small honey harvest.

[@codyabac3335]

I found a bunch of honeycomb out on a job recently and I can’t wait to try this!

[@LikodsaPayag]

Thanks for teaching us madam Darbin...

[@rockorsomething8473]

Awesome video. Where are you from?

[@dans4270]

Thank you for making a video that's straight to the point 👉👈 😁👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😁

[@Frame-by-FrameSolutions]

Another fantastic video, and your instructions are always so clear. Thanks

[@TyMoser]

That's a pretty cool process! I was surprised how little was you got out of each honey comb.

[@darbinorvar]

Ty Moser Thanks Ty, you do need a whole lot of honey comb to make a lot of wax!

[@KSFWG]

A very interesting video. Although not hard labor intensive, it seems to be a bit time consuming, but worth it in the end if you want to produce your own BLO/bees wax finish. :) Thanks for the video.

[@nanaouzumaki6044]

So you use water?

[@dnngskn62]

Great video Linn. Very informative as to how you get the beeswax you use.

[@darbinorvar]

Donnie G Hi Donnie, I usually buy the wax I use at the farmers market. Jon Peters was nice enough to send me the honey comb from his hive!

[@DavidWaeldervideo]

Love it!

[@darbinorvar]

David Waelder Thanks David!

[@AndreaArzensek]

Linn, you're magic! Your videos are full of great info and beautifully made! That ''nuclear'' yellow wax looks awesome!

[@darbinorvar]

Andrea Arzensek Thanks Andrea!

[@alexanderking488]

Hello, I loved this video and was wondering where I might find the containers as well?

[@1singhvi]

Any idea what the shelf life of the end product is? Assuming it is packed in opaque and airtight containers like the tin boxes you used?

[@chachiolivares5664]

Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge with us....very interesting and very good information

[@RaySarasin]

Thanks for sharing this I am a Bee Keeper and I keep my capped wax separate from the bees wax for this reason, capped is better for crafts

[@RaySarasin]

@ Capped wax is beeswax we separate it out

[@RaySarasin]

@ The wax from old frames and any junk wax i use this wax to paint new frames, by doing this it gets them going on a new frame. Its a bee keeping trick

[@paulab2748]

Love the video. Great details and easy steps to follow! Can’t wait to try this.

[@JorgeAraujo]

does the color of the honey comb end up in the wax? Meaning if its a dark honey honey will the final wax be darker? Great video... I love beeswax.

[@darbinorvar]

Jorge Araujo Thanks Jorge, I don't think the color of the honey comb itself has anything to do with the final wax color, but beeswax in general can be somewhere like a light brown to nearer bright yellow, depending on the pollen in the area.

[@flowerhobi1673]

I bought a bunch of honeycomb from the village nearby since they cleared out some hives from their college, but when i went to break up the big comb there were larvae inside all squirming about 😣😣 i dumped the whole thing in a baggie and left it in the terrace i dont know what to do with it now 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[@troykloszynski8050]

Excellent video, thank you for sharing you knowledge, much appreciated. Do you know if coconut oil would work instead of linseed oil ?

[@darbinorvar]

Troy Kloszynski Thanks Troy, any oil would work well.

[@robinchwan]

can you use the beeswax to make clothes waterproof somewhat ?

[@cybercapri]

Well done Linn, as always....

[@JuanGonzalez-tm3ux]

Hola, sabes todo lo que aprendo de los vídeos de youtube lo usare cuando por fin me vaya a vivir al campo, así que desde ya te estoy agradecido.

[@pokemonlover6639]

Can you use something else if you dont have cheese cloth??

[@akanksha8311]

can you please make a vidoe on different uses of wax

[@norm1124]

Dear queen of the bees. Again a beautiful video, with wonderful colors. Did you know the term "Yellowcake"? Thought a bit about it when you removed the first semi clean disks. - Will you get your own bees in a next step?

[@darbinorvar]

norm1124 Thanks, I think I will leave the bee-keeping to Jon Peters for now.

[@miketownsend6108]

Thanks for your awesome videos . i have made some home made Rust protector.

[@latherookie]

Thank you so much for this video, my wax turned out perfect. It now looks like butter.

[@wendyslowski9058]

Hi Linn. I have just recently found your videos and I have been binge watching!!! I have a quick question - what type of poly do you use before the beeswax - water or oil based. Thanks again and you definitely have a new fan.

[@darbinorvar]

You can use either, as I do often. The wax polish goes over anything. Hope that helps!

[@wendyslowski9058]

Thank you for your quick reply. I think I am going to try this at home!

[@tooljunkie555]

that is really cool linn!! you should get in touch with john peters as always great video!! i like these experiment videos u make. theyre really informative! have a good one linn

[@darbinorvar]

Joe Walters Thanks Joe! Jon Peters actually sent me the honey comb from his hive for this video.

[@tooljunkie555]

Darbin Orvar nice!thats awsome! Well u got the hook up. Ur all set then!;)

[@seselapaz]

What size are those tin containers where you put the wax?

[@AlFurtado]

Very nice video and great instructions

[@darbinorvar]

Al Furtado Thanks Al!

[@thegrumpyoldwoodworker8157]

You're the bees knees kid :-)

[@moi_94]

can this wax be used for cosmetic purposes.. like making lip balms or lotions etc

[@nazaminjur]

Yes

[@Thundermuffin93]

I have seen vids in the sidebar suggested that say "Using beeswax for lipbalms" etc...so yeah, I think it can be. Just have to find the right video :)

[@katypaz6892]

Hi, plz respond, is there another suggestion rather than cheesecloth?

[@ariajain7393]

I followed the steps but no wax was formed on top. Only small very thin fractures. If anyone knows if there is something I could do to fix this or the reason it happened please let me know.

[@alexnava4289]

Can i use store bought honey comb from the the store??? The one with honey still with it?

[@tutorialinater]

Can you use linseed oil and beeswax for woodturning projects and is it food safe for a cutting board finish

[@darbinorvar]

tutorialinater beeswax is a natural product, and so is raw linseed oil. works great for wood turning.

[@lifeiswonderful7986]

Excellent tutorial! You have done a fantastic job putting together a good quality video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best Wishes for continued success, Lori (aka; Lifeis Wonderful)

[@darbinorvar]

Lifeis Wonderful Thanks Lori!

[@missyo4848]

Can you just add the honeycomb to the pot without using all the cheesecloth?

[@careykirkwood1183]

What do you do with what was left in the cheese cloth

[@templeasiimwe]

Wonderful video. Merci.

[@rochat]

kandalfus Your google settings don't allow replies directly to your comments. Using olive oil in place of linseed isn't a good idea. Olive oil will go rancid and even if the project you are polishing doesn't need to be food safe, it will still smell.

[@atisharamruttun5737]

Can i use dried honeycomb ?

[@MrCherrytree001]

I like your wax videos. Keep up the good work!

[@darbinorvar]

Jesus Cerezo Thanks Jesus!

[@ConstructIcon]

Good tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

[@darbinorvar]

Construct Icon Thanks for watching!

[@anitashikdar8795]

It is honeyles?

[@peacefox02]

great video! i found a fallen tree full of honeycomb im hoping to get some wax from it

[@charleyandsarah]

Interesting video. Thanks for sharing.

[@darbinorvar]

Slowvannah Farms Thanks!

[@blurplenightmares3737]

This video was extremely helpful. Thank you so much :)

[@downbntout]

Well made video, right pace, ty

[@hubbsala-inlovecandle3730]

I haven't tried it yet Beeswax, I really like it! :) Very helpful video, thank you!! :)

[@arpitasaharan7431]

Can we use filter paper to filter wax

[@ramanthappa3474]

can we use this wax for cosmatic or making lipstick?

[@abdulqureshi5851]

why you use plastic container ?

[@venkateshalwar5436]

great description

[@MrHollick]

Great video! Looking forward to giving this a try!

[@NikkieRoxxx]

Nice, you get to the point!

[@kandalfus]

you can also use olive oil

[@dolkeryangzom6790]

When boiling are there bee eggs or larva alive inside.

[@RicOrnelas]

Thank you this video is just what I needed.

[@hunglomein8047]

Amazing video

[@illbthtscorpio3310]

How is bee wax made from?

[@tworldbdworldbd1196]

How long do you have to boil it?

[@jodydownes2271]

Just wanted to ask, is there a smell when malting the honeycomb?

[@darbinorvar]

Jody Downes Nothing bad, mostly smells like beeswax, which is nice, but it does attract bees!

[@brothyr]

How much did the honeycomb weigh and what was the weight of the filtered bee's wax?

[@darbinorvar]

Adam R Hi Adam, the whole honey comb and crushed comb weighed about 1 pound and the filtered wax was approx 4 ounces.

[@TheShavingWoodWorkshop]

Great video, great instructions.

[@darbinorvar]

The ShavingWood Workshop Thanks Tommy!

[@TheShavingWoodWorkshop]

Your welcome.

[@marcoantoniodeitos7320]

The ShavingWood Workshop

[@AndyMossMetta]

The ShavingWood Workshop ,

[@mikem9251]

Very interesting. Thanks Linn.

[@darbinorvar]

Mike M Thanks for watching Mike!

[@farhanaferdousy409]

Very helpful.... Thank you

[@timothymcswain6235]

Thanks for sharing

[@farhaimran6811]

Today in our backyard saw a dried fallen honeycomb from where bees migrated to other tree .will make it from it .

[@TheLastLogicalOne]

how much wax would you get per hive?

[@yusraansari9788]

How can i dry the comb