Round wax melter 185L + Steam generator

01 · HOW IT WORKS

Generator outside, steam inside

The generator is a separate unit: it boils the water in its 5-litre reservoir and sends the steam to the tank through a hose. Inside, that steam works its way between the frames, melts the wax and lets it fall by gravity to the outlet.

So nothing heats the vessel from outside and there is no need for a flame underneath: the heat arrives as steam, at a temperature that never goes past boiling water. That is the difference between recovering wax and charring it.

02 · HOW MUCH GOES IN

And in which formats

The 185 litres take 25 Langstroth frames, 15 Dadant or 12 Layens in a single load, standing upright. It also takes cappings, trimmings and blocks for remelting.

At that capacity the tank stops being a weekend accessory: it is the volume with which a medium apiary renews a whole season's frames in a handful of loads.

03 · THE OUTLET

Here there is a valve

It is the question that comes in from abroad and it deserves answering: the bottom outlet carries a metal valve, so the flow of wax can be shut off and the container changed without rushing. The plastic model in the range does not have one — there the wax falls free into the bowl.

The whole body is stainless steel, with a knobbed lid and side handles. It stands hot water, caustic cleaning and back-to-back seasons without pitting or warping.

04 · THE WAX THAT COMES OUT

Raw, with the slumgum left behind

Steam separates the wax from what is not wax: wood, cocoons and debris stay behind and the wax runs out below. Even so, what reaches the container is raw wax: to make foundation or sell pure wax you need a second, filtered melt.

With cappings from pale blooms — rosemary, lavender — it shows most: the wax comes out light, and it is worth not mixing it with the wax of old frames.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is the big step in the melter range: