Bees killed what to do with combs

[ncross]

I was asked to collect a swarm of bees today. When I got there there were bees flying around a tree that had been chopped down. Most of the bees belonging to the colony seemed to be dead and I think I could smell kerosene or diesel fumes. The bees were black and already starting to rot. The temperatures have been in the mid 40's celsius here in Victoria, Australia. The colony was dead with just a few bees belonging to the hive left alive and the other bees flying around were robber bees.

I collected the comb, sawdust covered in honey, and dead bees, pupa, pollen etc to remove their problem. It filled an esky to the brim and is heavy. I've taken it away with the intention of burning it when the extreme fire danger passes away. But is there anything more constructive that can be done with it? I suspect not given that it seems to be infected with some sort of fuel.

Thanks for any replies.

Nigel

[HAB]

Think you could sell fire starters to the "City Folks"?  We call it "Waxed Kindling" or "Lighter". :)
It ought to make some sweet smelling fires.

[Kathyp]

i hope you charged them!!

seems like you could at least salvage the wax for candles, or fire starter.  we make fire starter balls with dryer lint.  they work great.  don't know why sawdust wouldn't work as well.

[ncross]

Great idea with the wax lighters I think.

What is the best way to melt a large volume of wax?

How do you then actually make these fire lighters? It sounds like something that one could sell.

Obviously there will be some honey in there. When I melted wax on a small scale years ago you end up with the wax on top and some honey underneath. What would you do with this honey given that it could be contaminated by fuel?

Thanks

Nigel

[gaucho10]

You can melt the wax using a wax melter or solar wax melter.  Search here for those topics.  There is plenty of information to get you started.  After melting/separating the wax and honey I would just throw the honey away and save the wax.  You can take the wax and soften it.  Add saw dust to it and mix it well.  You then let it harden and VOILA!

[riverrat]

not knowing what it was sprayed with I would for one bury it.  wax is to cheap to take a chance on contaiminating your equipment

[Scadsobees]

You can make furniture or shoe polish with the wax.  The honey is useless.

I make firestarters too.  But in a tropical area I'm guessing the they aren't as in demand as here in the sub-artic  :roll:

[sc-bee]

kathyp

>we make fire starter balls with dryer lint.  they work great.  don't know why sawdust wouldn't work as well.

And how is this done? Thanks!

[Kathyp]

just mix melted wax with dryer lint and poke a bit of candle wick in it.  you can make them in cardboard egg cartons, roll them, cut in squares on a cookie sheet.  towel lint works best.

don't do any of this on anything you ever want to cook on :-)

[Scadsobees]

I use sawdust in ice cube trays.  The sawdust needs to be hot when pouring the wax, and the ice cube trays disposable.  The sawdust doesn't light very easy, but once lit.....woo hoo!

[Kathyp]

the wick makes a difference.  you don't need one that is long.  only long enough to give the wax a chance to catch.

[Brian D. Bray]

the wick makes a difference.  you don't need one that is long.  only long enough to give the wax a chance to catch.

An inch of wax soaked twine or string makes a good wick for such starters.

[ncross]

Thanks for all of your replies. I will make some sort of firelighters but for now I will concentrate on making a 'cake' of wax to keep for this purpose.

I will try to mock up a solar melter by putting a pane of glass over a camp oven. Although I am not sure if I willl be able to get the temperature up to 65 degrees celsius when the outside temperature is expected to reach a peak of 25 tommorrow?

Will things like the dead bees, pupa and saw dusk rise to the top of the mix before it sets again?

Thanks again,

Nigel

[Kathyp]

you'll need to strain it.  cheese cloth is probably the best.

[gaucho10]

ncross,  do a search in this forum for wax melters and you will be surprised as to what you can build for cheap money.  I built one out of pine, painted it black, covered it with a piece of glass and the temperature went high enough to melt the wax in cold temps.  I think I did a test in~25 deg. F outside temp.  Once the sun came out the temp. inside the solar wax melter rose to ,I believe, 130 deg. F.  Not sure exactly, just got to do a search.  Someone used a cooler to accomplish the same.

Also, if you decide to do some straining you can accomplish both within the wax melter.