Many beekeepers use what is called a solar melter...a clean contraption of the home-made or catalog bought variety to melt the wax and separate it from the undesirable things found in the raw wax. (I must admit surprise that they throw the stuff away. It has great value for those who would use it in candle making, etc.)

Basically, the wax is put into clean nylon stockings, washed by setting it in a pail fo clean water for a few hours and then letting it drip dry (doing this 2-3 times is best), and then the whole thing is put into the solar melter which uses the power of the sun to generate the heat to melt the wax, which pours through the stocking material leaving the undesirable stuff behind. The wax collects in a small clean tub below. When complete, the wax is quite clean.

Or, one can simply get an old pan out that you don't want anymore and heat it on low until all the wax melts. Most of the stuff will float on top and can be skimmed off. Remember, beeswax is much harder than parrafin, has a higher melting temperature, and therefore cleaning up the pan is all but impossible.

Actually that's not my experience. Depending on the hardness and ph of your water (distilled is best), it may not be wise to melt the wax in hot water and let it float and cool and solidify.

Bees wax melts in the 150° range. I melt my wax in a double boiler arrangement (never melt wax directly over a burner, and then pour it into a hot bow, taller is better than narrow. It can also have some pure water, very hot in the bowl all ready. You should pour it through a metal strainer (I don't use nylon for this, although I do for honey. I think the hot wax could do a number on nylon) to catch the bees and large junk in the wax.

When it cools without stirring, the water will be on the bottom, then the junk, then the pure wax on the top. The wax shrinks slightly when it solidifies so it's easy to remove. On the bottom of the wax, next to the water, is the junk, a thin layer that can be cut away.

And that's why a tall narrow container for cooling is better. The junk is then limited to the narrower area of the diameter. I've even used 1" cheapie flexible pvc pipe with a removable cap on one end, in lengths about 12"-16" long. It makes a long TALL tube and it's easy to remove the bottom 1/4" that has the impurities in it.

One more thing and this is important. You shouldn't use wax from a beekeeper that uses miticide strips (fluvalinate and coumophos are common). It's showing up in wax even in the honey supers combs that are always removed while the pesticide was used. This is according to tests reported by Dr. Greg Hunt at Purdue University.

The chemicals in miticides are harmful to humans, and if you're making hand cream or lipbalm, you want to ensure you have a pure produce.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate how thorough and helpful all your answers are.

ccrb1, I called the neighbors and asked about the miticides...and they DO use them :( But I really want to try the process now that I have this great instruction. I think I'll use the wax for other things...I make gourd baskets and do some woodworking when I have time, so the wax won't be harmful in those applications.

Many, many thanks...and happy beekeeping to you all!

well, I'm glad I mentioned it. Two miticides are quite harmful to people and it does get absorbed into the wax. I've turned organic to please my market and don't use those things anymore. As a master gardener, I'm a proponent for wise use (which usually means no use) of pesticides.

This seems an important message this time of year.

HI all, i have been given some wax, i dont know if they used miteycide things, will it still be ok for me to use for making into candles if they did? thanks!

I simply melt the wax with a bit of water, then pour them both through cheesecloth into the molds. As previous posters have said, the water, gunk and wax will separate, and the cheesecloth helps to catch a good amount of the gunk before it even reaches the mold. good luck!

As a safety note: beeswax doesn't boil, rather its just keeps getting hotter until it ignites! This is why a double boiler is recommended. One way that works well is to tie up the 'dirty'wax in cheesecloth with a weight added and heat the pot to near 150 degrees. the wax will melt and gather at the top of the water leaving behind most of the debris. Plan on disposing of the cheesecloth after. Since i use Warre hives i dip the pionted side of my top bars into the melted wax to coat a line of was for the bees to follow for comb building. Works really well, JL.