XPost: uk.d-i-y, sci.agriculture.beekeeping, alt.deposit   
   From: lithar@hamiltoncomwb.net   
      
   Peter.H.M.Brooks@gmail.com wrote:   
      
   > The beeswax that I have is a fairly dark brown. I got it from a local   
   > shop that was used to people buying it for digeridoos. It took a while   
   > to put it on, too, dipping it to build up a thin layer at a time.   
      
   That's not a good color for clean wax, it should be gold color or   
   lighter. The gold wax would be comb, lighter color wax would be cappings   
   (the finest wax). What you have sounds like the first melting of brood   
   comb with no attempt to clean it - nasty.   
      
   To clean the wax you might try boiling it in water - 20% wax/80% water -   
   then letting it set. The brown solids will drop out and the clean wax   
   will eventually reform on top of the water. You may need to do this a   
   couple times to get all the crud out. Oh, be sure to use a pan you won't   
   ever need to use for any other purpose - you've been warned.   
      
   If you're dipping to build up layers you might want to try a cold water   
   bath to dip the didge in between wax dips - it'll harden a lot faster   
   and as the wax builds up it will still be pliable enough to shape as you   
   need.   
      
   I tried wax on my didge but it kept sticking to my mustache so I removed   
     it, the wax that is. My didge is bamboo with a wooden mouthpiece   
   though so the wax really wasn't necessary.   
      
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