Testing the solar wax melter

I’m afraid the photos here really aren’t that great, mostly because the melter needs to face the Sun as much as possible, but what we have is the tray full of “crumbled” comb, mostly from old brood frames. I’m told this works better than leaving the frames intact. As allegedly does washing the remnants first, but I couldn’t be bothered to wait for that.

So, I cut/broke the comb out of the frames and put it into a large plastic bag in the freezer. After a day or two I crushed the frozen comb and then packed it into the melting tray.

Once the Sun was hot enough, wax started to drip out.

I’m only going to claim a qualified success though. The spout isn’t working well and I’ve temporarily bodged a foil version in behind it made from a few layers of kitchen foil. Once I get my hands on a foil food tray I’ll make one from that instead. Otherwise it does seem to be very effective. What a shame then that suitable weather for using it seems so rare this year 🙁

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