12F Wax melter + Burner

01 · WHAT COMES AND WHAT IS NOT NEEDED

Ready to work

The unit arrives with its gas burner and the stand built into the structure itself: there is nothing else to buy to start melting. Gas gives strong fire, which is what raises steam fast and keeps the pace up.

And it allows the alternative: it has an inlet for steam injection, in case you prefer to connect an external electric generator — sold separately — to work indoors without a flame.

02 · HOW MANY FRAMES FIT

Three formats in the same basket

The internal basket measures 530 × 380 mm, and that is why it accepts the three usual formats:

It is what also makes it useful to anyone mid-transition between systems, with two kinds of equipment in the store.

03 · HOW IT WORKS

Two compartments and one outlet

Boiling water below, frames taking the steam above. The melted wax comes out on its own through the spout, and the slumgum stays in the basket acting as a natural filter. Stainless steel keeps the wax free of rust.

The working height is 780 mm, set so a bucket fits underneath without bending your back. And it works for old frames as well as for cappings.

04 · WHAT IT DOES NOT DO

It melts and cleans; it does not sterilise

It is worth saying precisely: steam at atmospheric pressure does not exceed 100 °C, and American foulbrood spores withstand a good deal more. The boiler melts the wax and leaves the frame clean, but does not sterilise it.

For the same reason it has no hermetic lid and no pressure valve, and it should not have them: it is an open steam boiler, not an autoclave. If the equipment comes from an apiary suspected of foulbrood, the official veterinary service decides.

05 · THE OLD HAND'S TIP

Use the heat

The frames come out hot and that is the best moment to work them: the timber is expanded, the remaining wax scrapes off with no effort and the wire tensions far better.

Leave them to cool in a stack and the next day it costs twice as much. Half an hour making use of the heat saves a whole afternoon.

06 · BEFORE YOU BUY

A complete boiler, burner included: