HANDLING THE WAX FROM HONEY COMBS*

Transcription

1 HANDLING THE WAX FROM HONEY COMBS* G.F. TOWNSEND, CANADA Cappings Cappings are obtained when the waxen surface is removed from honeycombs prior to extracting the honey. Where eight or nine frames are used in a 10-frame super, the combs are often drawn out far beyond the wooden frames. It is the usual practice to uncap down to the wood on the frame, with the result that as much as 25 per cent or more of the honey crop may be included in the cappings. Considerable care must be taken in recovering this honey from the cappings in order to avoid injury to all or part of the crop. Heat is usually required to completely separate the cappings from the honey. If the temperature is allowed to rise above the melting point of the wax (63 O C) a burnt flavour will be imparted to the honey and its colour will be darkened. One-Step Handling Brand Melter The Brand Melter (Fig. 1) is a method by which honeycomb cappings can be handled in one operation. The combs are uncapped directly into a hopper which feeds them through into the main body of the tank. The lower part of the tank is jacketed and is usually heated by steam. Hot water is safer but slower. As the capping material is warmed, the honey and cappings separate and the cappings flaot to the top. The floating layer will rise, as uncapping proceeds, until it comes in contact with the heated copper tubes, when it will begin to melt. Fig. 1 Brand Melter Under the proper operating conditions the honey and the hot melted wax will be separated by a layer of unmelted cappings. To maintain this buffer layer of unmelted cappings it is necessary to keep the honey level low and to avoid excess heat on the bottom of the tank. The steam flow to the jacketed part of the melting tank should therefore be reduced or disconnected once the wax begins to run. If properly operated, the Brand Melter is ideal equipment for handling cappings. It is time saving to have the honey and the wax completely separated at the end of each day s work. The capacity of the Brand Melter is limited, and it is unwise to try to increase its capacity by using additional heat, because of the danger of damaging the honey. A large operator may therefore find it necessary to install more than one unit. Carefully operated the Brand Melter is very satisfactory; carelessy operated, it can cause considerable damage to the honey crop. * The photographs illustrating this paper are taken by the author.

2 Electric Brand Melter A recent addition to the Brand Melter is the use of electric radiant heat or heat bulbs focused on the surface of the capping (Fig. 2). Heat is also provided under the hopper by either hot water or a heat lamp. No grid is used and a hood to contain the heating units is placed over the open tank. Fig. 2 Electric Brand Melter Two-Step handling If it is decided that the Brand Melter is not suitable because of insufficient supervision, or the lack of sufficient steam, or electricity, then it will be necessary to uncap into a drain box, a press, or a whirl-dry. Any of these systems will remove the bulk of the honey, but one is still faced with the problem of removing the remaining honey and melting down the cappings. Drain Box The drain box (Fig. 3) consists of a container with a screened or slatted wooden bottom on which the cappings drop and through which the bulk of the honey is drained. If the cappings are stirred periodically and left to drain in a warm room over night, this method is almost as efficient as the press or whirl-dry. After draining, the cappings must be shovelled or forked into some other container for later rendering. Capping Press The press is a round bucket with slatted sides and bottom. The cappings drop directly into the bucket. When full, it is placed under a jack, which is tightened occasionally to squeeze the honey out of the cappings. The cappings are compressed into a cake, which eases handling (Fig. 4). Fig. 3 The drain box Fig. 4 Capping press

3 Whirl or Spin-Dry The combs are uncapped directly over the revolving basket of the whirl-dry (Fig. 5). The cappings are thrown against the wall of the basket, and the honey is forced through the perforated sides and drained off. The action is very similar to that of a honey extractor. Fig. 5 Whirl-dry Saving the Honey Rendering As much as 50 per cent of the weight of the drained, pressed, or whirled cappings will consist of honey. If it is planned to save the honey for bee feed, the cappings may be placed directly into a steam chest and melted down. Steam Chest The steam chest (Fig. 6) is a container into which live steam may be released. The cappings are supported on screens, and the melted wax runs to the bottom of the tank along with the condensed steam. The liquid material coming out of the chest will consist of liquid wax and a honey solution. Fig. 6 Steam chest The wax will come to the top of the honey solution and may be removed with a ladle and poured into molds, or permitted to cool to be removed later as a wax cake. The remaining liquid will be about 40 per cent honey. It will be necessary to mix this with sugar or honey for feeding purposes. This honey and water mixture will ferment quickly if not used soon or stored in a cold place. Robbing Because of the possibility of spreading American Foulbrood it is not good policy to permit a whole apiary to participate in robbing the cappings. It is better to locate a few colonies of bees especially for this purpose. Place the cappings on a coarse-meshed screen above a platform. As the bees work over the cappings and remove the honey, the dry flakes of wax will fall through the screen and may be collected below. If this procedure is not followed, and the cappings are simply placed in a heap, the bees will be unable to remove all the honey.

4 Discarding the Honey If it is decided that the honey remaining in the cappings is not wanted, or one does not have rendering equipment, then the cappings should be placed in very tight containers, such as wooden boxes or metal containers, and shipped to a rendering plant, where they will be melted down and the wax removed. If it is desired to render these cappings at home without having any of the equipment mentioned above, then they may be placed in burlap sacks and held under boiling water. It is necessary to squeeze the sack occasionally with a stick in order to make sure that most of the wax is removed. If such material remains, the sack should be placed in a wax press (Fig. 7). The wax press is so constructed that the sack of refuse is submerged in hot water while the pressure is being applied. Most of the remaining wax will be forced from the sack and will float to the surface, where it can be drained off or permitted to harden into a cake. Fig. 7 Wax press Fig. 8 Peterson melter Additional wax can be salvaged if the refuse from the steam chest, or Brand Melter is alo placed in sacks and put through the wax press. Peterson Melter This melter (Fig. 8) consists of a pan with a hot water jacket underneath. The water may be heated by steam, electricity or a gas burner. The pan is placed on a slope so that the honey and liquid wax run into a separator. The honey settles to the bottom and is taken off through a battle. The wax runs out a spout near the top edge of the separator. The wax remaining on the top solidifies. The honey is damaged by the heat of the melter and can be used only for spring feed. Rendering Old Combs Old combs may be melted down most easily with the use of a steam chest as described for cappings. If steam is not available they may be rendered in sacks under hot water or in a wax press. Rendering old comb in sacks under hot water leaves much wax behind. Solar Wax Extractor The solar wax melter which makes use of the heat from the sun s rays is very useful for melting burr comb, a small quantity of cappings, and damaged comb. This type of melter is not efficient for melting old, dark combs. The melter consists of a metal-lined box painted black on the inside to absorb as much heat from the sun as possible and with double glass on the top. A receptacle should be provided for receiving the melted wax.

5 Diagram 1 gives one idea for such a melter but they may be made in various sizes depending upon the requirements. It should be located in a sheltered position and where it will get the direct rays from the sun. It would be beneficial to insulate the sides and bottom. This glass frame should be such that it will hold double glass. Weather stripping between the glass frame and the top of the box helps to conserve the heat. Diagram 1 Solar wax extractor Legend: A Screen Tray to hold unmelted pieces of wax; B Metal Shelf to run melted wax into pan below; C Metal Pan to catch melted wax Pressing Honey from the Comb In areas where equipment is not available or conditions prevent the extracting of honey from the comb some type of press is necessary. The M.G. Heather Honey Press has been used most satisfactorily (Fig. 9). A lighter press working on a simple lever system has been designed for the use of individual beekeepers (fig. 10). Fig. 9 Heather honey press

6 Fig. 10 Simplified press, to be used by individual beekeepers Experience has shown that the honeycomb must be pressed as soon as possible after being taken from the hive. If left for a few days the honey becomes very difficult to press, and there is a danger of it being spoiled. Granulation may set in. The combs must be pressed on the same day as they are taken from the hives, whether it be at night or during the day. To press the comb, it is placed in one of the cloth bags provided with the press. The press should not be more than one-third filled. If too much comb is put in at one time it is more difficult to press and takes longer in the end. After putting the comb into the bag, and the bag is folded over neatly so that the comb cannot burst out. The pressure is applied until the bag is seen to bulge around the edges of the platen. The platen is then raised and the bag refolded to pull the comb away from the sides of the press. The final pressure is applied until the honey ceases to flow rapidly. The platen is then raised and flat cake of wax removed from the bag before putting in the next charge of comb. A honey tin is placed under the outlet of the press and the honey allowed to run straight in until the tin is filled right up. The lever lid is then placed firmly in position. The beeswax is rendered as a separate operation in one of the manners already described. Cautions 1. Wax should never be heated over an open flame because of the fire hazard. This is particularly dangerous inside a building. 2. Whenever honey is fed back to bees, sodium sulfathiazole should be added as a preventive measure against American Foulbrood. In countries not permitting the use of drugs honey should never be fed back to bees. 3. Overheated honey is very hard on confined bees, and therefore it should be used only for feeding when it will be used by bees which are not confined for a long period. 4. Cappings or old comb should not be stored for too long a period without fumigating to destroy wax moth. 5. Appliances with which hated honey or beeswax will come into contact should be made of stainless steel or other acid resistant material where possible. This article is a Technical Recommendation which is to be published separately by the Apimondia Publishing House.