Rotary Wax Melting Centrifuge LYSON Ø1000 mm

01 · 98 °C IS THE STEAM'S TEMPERATURE

And that sets what you can expect

Beeswax melts between 62 and 65 °C and begins to darken above 85. A steam melter works at around 98 °C because that is the temperature of steam, and there is no way to melt with steam and stay below it.

What the electronic control does avoid is the cooking: wax left stewing for hours, as happens over a hard boil. It drains and it leaves, and that is the real merit.

02 · DO NOT PUT FRESH CAPPINGS IN

And the maker says so itself

Steam condenses, and on freshly uncapped wax that water dilutes the honey still in it. The honey coming out of there is no good for jars, and you will have lost the most valuable part of the harvest.

The order is the usual one: recover the honey cold first — press or cappings spinner — and then melt the drained wax. What belongs here is old comb, broken foundation, dry cappings trimmings and pressing residues.

03 · THREE SUPPLIES: 400 V, 230 V, WATER

Installation is the awkward part

The generator's three elements are 1.5 kW each and run on three-phase 400 V; the controller, by contrast, is 230 V. And the drum's two cleaning nozzles connect to the water main.

That is three separate supplies in the same corner of the honey house, and they are worth sorting out before the machine arrives. The generator is on wheels, but the metal hose linking it to the drum is the length it is.

04 · TWENTY MINUTES, OR FORTY

And the residue at the bottom does not pay

A 20-minute cycle gets most of the wax out. Running it to 40 squeezes the rest, and after that what is left is the tarry residue at the bottom, which can be pressed separately, though what it yields rarely pays for the time.

The maker states 350-400 frames a day depending on the wax. Keep a metal shovel handy: the residue comes out of the bottom after every cycle, and it is the only dirty job in the process.

05 · THE ROTATION IS FOR THE STEAM

Not to separate by centrifugal force

The drum turns slowly, at adjustable speed, and that rotation separates nothing by density: it lets the steam get in between the frames and speeds the drainage. The separating is done by gravity and by the internal filter, which holds back cocoons, wires and splinters.

Worth distinguishing from the insulated centrifugal wax melter we carry at €2,061.98, which is another machine and another budget. What you buy here is the steam and the big drum.

06 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Three supplies, and fresh cappings do not go in.