Wax foundation

Tupla

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Finman said:

Tupla

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very nice chocolate!

charlievictorbravo said:

very nice chocolate!

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Tupla recipe was first Finnish. Then factory was sold to France. Now it is Spanish.
The recipe was formulated from American Milky Way candy. - says google.
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BeeJayBee said:

Which bleach? Do you use hydrogen peroxide?

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Noooooooo! it's illegal!!!

jenkinsbrynmair said:

Yes - I have Three Degrees in it - that's why I'm allowed to wear The Pips on my shoulders

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Sorry this took so long but, has Gladys ever asked for them back?

TBH, you can keep the Pips, but please give back the Three Degrees.

Cussword said:

Sorry this took so long but, has Gladys ever asked for them back?

TBH, you can keep the Pips, but please give back the Three Degrees.

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At long last - thought I'd have to add a drum roll and cymbals

Sorry about the tardiness, I've been cleaning the pond & filters for most of the weekend.
Only caught up with the reading this morning.

Hivemaker. said:

Domestic stuff, sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide.

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Out of interest Hivemaker do you get any organic chlorides using the hypochlorite that might be irritating or is the assumption that these will partition into the aqueous phase?

The other question I have is whether the process creates polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the beeswax?

Hivemaker. said:

Very technical, about a mugful mixed with a little water.

The discolored wax is first extracted and cast into blocks, 17 to 20kg, at a later date these are then put into a stainless steel boiler with around 15 to 20 liters of water, wax is melted and brought up to steady simmer and then the bleach added, I keep this simmering for an hour or so, not critical, but the idea is to have lots of tiny bubbles and water rising up through the liquid wax, to clean the stained wax molecules, when finished wrap/lag the tank in something to hold in the heat for a few hours, old blankets work okay, this allows a nice long time for any tiny particles to sink out, next ladle clean wax back into molds and leave to set, the next time they are melted is when needed for foundation making, although the wax could be used straight from the boiler after the bleach cleanup if desired.

The bleach quantity is not critical, but if using oxalic it is, too much and you end up with a soapy mixture.

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I must have done something wrong - it didn't work for me, the was stayed the same colour

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The beautiful color to the wax comes from larva poo, which are in old combs between pupa silks.

IT resembles the color of new born baby poo.


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Finman said:

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The beautiful color to the wax comes from larva poo, which are in old combs between pupa silks.

IT resembles the color of new born baby poo.


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And there I was thinking my baby had been eating my used wax. Or the bees had been collecting water and nutrients from her used nappies.

linoleum bonypart said:

Was told by my local assc. that they've been advised of a 30% hike in retail price next year ....

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linoleum bonypart said:

Just seen a tweet by Sheffield honey....foundation prices rising by 30% very soon... Have you guys Association got a deal in place

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Now very imminent.

See also new thread....http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=520090#post520090

VAT to be increased to 27% in April..... just paid 99p for one liter of petrol and £1.98 for two liters of whole farmfresh Cornish cow milk.

All Great News I am sure... what we really, really need is massive inflation, and mass unemployment to bring priced down!!!

Yeghes da

Yikes... ok... finally got to the the end of the thread!

There's a local beek here who makes and sells on ebay his own wooden tray/silicon foundation moulds which people seem to like sold for less than 50 quid. He reckons you can do about 12 sheets an hour.

It makes slightly thicker foundation which doesn't seem a problem and would certainly save buying foundation if you can be bothered. Am I allowed to link you to the ebay page?

Probably not. Stick something like wax 'foundation press/mould' into ebay uk search and something might come up.

I on the other hand can't be bothered and am going as foundationless as possible.

50m of wire from the local building supplies costs me about £3 and I wire all the frames. Fingers crossed however for no cross-comb carnage.

So why's the price going up?

alldigging said:

So why's the price going up?

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High demand from backroom candle makers ( Ask Kirsty!) insisting on non Asian chloramphenicol contaminated stuff.... and beekeepers not weighing in wax due to very poor return on foundation swap in from the foundation sellers???

All down to market forces

Yeghes da

icanhopit said:

High demand from backroom candle makers ( Ask Kirsty!) insisting on non Asian chloramphenicol contaminated stuff.... and beekeepers not weighing in wax due to very poor return on foundation swap in from the foundation sellers???

All down to market forces

Yeghes da

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Ms Alsopp?

So is this stuff likely to be full of chloramphenicol?

http://www.banggood.com/30Pcs-Honey...ent-Bee-Hive-Comb-Honey-Frames-p-1014750.html

I've got a block of wax that - yes you're right - I'd rather keep as a wax block here than weigh it in.
I'm sure him indoors could be persuaded to make a foundation press at some point.

alldigging said:

Ms Alsopp?

So is this stuff likely to be full of chloramphenicol?

http://www.banggood.com/30Pcs-Honey...ent-Bee-Hive-Comb-Honey-Frames-p-1014750.html

I've got a block of wax that - yes you're right - I'd rather keep as a wax block here than weigh it in.
I'm sure him indoors could be persuaded to make a foundation press at some point.

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Personally I doubt if things have changed very much in the last few years,
but here is a link to the 2003 findings.
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/bees.htm

Yeghes da

I bought a gadget last year. It was 2 pieces of flexible latex which had bee hexagons printed on it. The idea being to pour your melted wax and then roll the sheet of latex down over the one below. It printed both sides of the wax. It takes a bit of practising and I found the wax sheet was a little thick. But I think, with practise, sheets of foundation could be made with your own wax. Cutting the wax sheets into starter strips for the frames...so bees could draw their own wax, was easy too. For the beekeeper with a few hives, it would mean you could be self sufficient in wax foundation, if you save all your wax. I didn't have enough wax to make many sheets...so hoping to have more after this coming summer. I had thought that eventually by recycling the wax...I might even have a surplus eventually.

Word is that there is a shortage of clean wax across much of Europe. I was told that some suppliers are restricting sales to local only. I have not verified this so take it as rumor and speculation until proven.