The Cheapest Wax Foundation! Making It Yourself | 7-10-2022 Aussiebeekeeping

[@ThinkAskLearn]

Hi there, This video is a couple of years old, I was wondering do you still use this to make foundation. Thanks

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Yep

[@fishmut]

Very nice set up for doing your foundation , I had a go last year using wood paddle board cut to fit inside the frames to give me the size foundation I wanted , I soak the board in water a little bit put dish washing liquid on the board to release to wax sheet after I dipped the board into a tray of melted wax then dunked into cool water tray to release the sheet etc , only problem was after all that work the bees would not touch my sheets of wax , have you had any trouble will bees building out the comb on the sheets you made thanks.

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Ives seen that method. No no issue that I’ve noticed.

[@hermanhaentjens5834]

hi, this is the old method that existed +-100 or more years ago. ( I found once an old book about this on google books) I have used an old model of this from an old beekeeper he modified the model a very little bid. He made a kind of wooden structure so that the air could blow under the machine. By doing so he increased the cooling time (and had no risk to burn the table) But when you then add a ventilator, you can reduce more the cooling time. Be carefull when you get the foundation out of the machine. This is normally not inox but copper of even alumilium ( so easily damaged) so you should use some wooden spoons or ( like I did) a compressor and use compressed air to get the founding out of the machine. I'm using Dadant and at the end I found it a really time consuming process and looked for something else) but if it works fine for you, then this is fantastic.

[@michelleadams1210]

I like it. I've not seen them before. I'd think about buying . And I guess the more you practice, the better you get at taking the sheet off without ripping it. 😊👍

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Yes. It’s a lot better than the silicone ones. Practice makes perfect.

[@robertpeters9438]

Do you rinse the soap off of the wax sheets? How about before wax reheating?

[@spudgn]

Hello from the States. I don’t have any damned bees yet. However, my 1.5 hectares, mixed bananas and coconuts, await in the province of Misamis Occidental, Philippines. My hives of choice will be the comfort hive design and as cheap, ie simple, as possible. My staff and neighbors are also simple folks. I will buy this type of foundation making devise. Thanks for the demo. I will employ all broken pieces to train my bees to the thin bars and in swarm catching. Thanks again. My journey will start, on the ground in 2024.

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Good luck. I have t seen the comfort hive. I’ll look into it.

[@TrickyTrev01]

Awesome little invention and great investment. Thanks for the information 👍🐝🍯

[@aussiebeekeeping]

My pleasure.

[@kendunn2218]

Looks like a great piece of equipment. Can you tell me the cell size, please?

[@aussiebeekeeping]

I have no idea. Just standard brood comb size.

[@seymorewright4176]

How thin is this. And which country are you in ? which country

[@gallowaylights]

I copied a frame with silicone caulk many layers, but it shrank, now I make small cell wax foundation ; )

[@aussiebeekeeping]

That’s unfortunate. I did think about doing that myself.

[@seymorewright4176]

Where cani buy one

[@jameslissaman8331]

Can you give us a report on how well the bees accept the foundation given the possible contamination by the detergent? Also compared with plastic foundation waxed with paint roller? Thanks for showing this option, the pressed steel roller variant is a lot more expensive.

[@aussiebeekeeping]

No

[@johnhansen8268]

and were did you get the foundation press from thanks

[@aussiebeekeeping]

There’s a link in the description

[@captcommando180]

@@aussiebeekeeping link doesnt seem to be working....

[@zagranplan]

All that dishwashing liquid goes back into the molten wax?

[@aussiebeekeeping]

4 drops of detergent in a spray bottle x 10 squirts on a mould into 13 litres of water with the wax floating on the top. Eye roll

[@serenalinn]

@@aussiebeekeeping I had a similar question, but figured it would sort itself out when it remelted. I think the amount of soap was a concern because you said 1:1, but obviously the ratio you just mentioned is what you would have used, and it's not much at all, anyway.

[@makaylaforbes6719]

What are these sheets used for? You say "foundation sheets". You're not talking house foundations, right?

[@holgerbauer8406]

Honey Bees! 🤣

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Yes. In Australia we make our house foundations out of small wax sheets we get from bees.

[@holgerbauer8406]

😀😂😂

[@makaylaforbes6719]

@@holgerbauer8406 oh! For the bees! Thank you! Trying to learn what I can of this, but since there are no classes on it anywhere around where I am, it doesn't help when everyone who talks about the process acts like it's common knowledge

[@lirg123]

I think a roller does better than a press. it looks like the press prone to tear but save more on wax.

[@aussiebeekeeping]

Yes. Quite difficult to get it right every time. Maybe with some practice.

[@KayAteChef]

I think rollers probably produce a less brittle foundation.

[@ЯрославКорнейчук-д3щ]

Треба більше охолоджувати і ьримати температуру воску 68*-70* градусів. Тоді гврно щнімати лист.

[@REVHARDD]

Link dead..

[@aussiebeekeeping]

www.edmondshoney.com.au/product/beeswax-foundation-printer/53?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true

[@soupvis2616]

450 $ is far from cheap ...

[@aussiebeekeeping]

It is cheap. It’s the same price as 150 wax foundation sheets. I was purchasing 100 at a time.

[@soupvis2616]

@@aussiebeekeeping all equipment in beekeeping are 4 times more expensive then it should be that thing is not worth more than 100 $