Sorting out the wax

[Neils]

Last year we cobbled together a solar extractor, having sorted out the apiary fencing last week I thought it was a good excuse to tidy up the rest of the apiary.

Having mucked out all the gunk from the extractor tray and unclogged the "filter" (posh name for a few holes) I whipped out the wax we've collected so far and set about trying to clean it up on Sunday.

My High tech rendering facility just starting out:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7234/7290328068_9d0e4a30fa_c.jpg
Earwigs, bits of bee and old comb cells very much in evidence I fear.


Almost done:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7290331674_f211456238_c.jpg

Where old tights go to die in the Nellie Household:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7290329634_3455b53bb9_b.jpg

Filtered and ready to go into blocks:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/7290330628_e27c61a0a9_c.jpg

The final haul, a kilo of wax:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7077/7290332910_719fc8f273_c.jpg

And just for comparison, against a block of honeycomb wax I did after extracting the honey last autumn:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7099/7290334140_a7eb609120_c.jpg