Here is the paraffin www.candlemaking.com/igi-1260-votive-molded-candle-wax-60lb-case.html Here is the microcrystalline www.candlemaking.com/igi-5715-microcrystaline-wax-66lb-case.html.html
Kanmon, thank you again for providing insight into your bee operations. Would you mind sharing where one could obtain the wax dipping tank and the heating system? Said another way, what ALL do I need and where would I secure these items if I wished to wax dip all my hives now and going forward? Thanks, brother, your insights and open discussions serve the bee community at every level:) Great job guys:)
When you wake up tomorrow and see you have a whole bunch of new views on your videos, you'll know I was watching them. I spent the afternoon making frames on my new table saw. And when I needed a break I watched a whole bunch. I think you have one of the, if not the best beekeeping site around. I have learned so much from you even though I'm probably twice your age. Thanks. Keep up the good work!
This was one of the videos I was waiting for. But you forgot to put the two kinder waxes that you use down in the description below. As well is the tank. That would be some good information to know. Thanks for sharing.
Another great vidio 👍👍 , we use gum resin an paraffin 50/50 cost 2.20 per deep to dip them . As you say many different ways to do as far as temp an time. I do 275° for 2min . I did a test on a peice of scrap, an next day cut it in half, an was wax treated all the way through no doubt.!! I use pressure treated plywood, on tops, so that cost couple bucks more per top. Longevity of wax dipping cannot be beat for sure !!!
Kamon, this is the second video that I’ve ever seen about wax dipping. The first one was a guy that perform the service for others and he said that as long as foam was coming out of the wood that moisture was coming out causing that and he let them cook until they quit foaming. Is that true and is the box any heavier after the wax has penetrated the wood?
I have no experience doing this.. other than watching that video or one similar. Me I think maybe water but also air. I dont see why it wouldn't be heavier.
@Jack Hoffman - the reason that I think it will be heavier is wood is porous and if the wax is penetrating the wood and porous grains and coating the outside then the weight should increase unless it cooked out a substantial amount of moisture to offset the weight of the wax. I know they have to keep adding more wax to the pot. It may not be enough weight increase to notice the difference unless they are weighted with scales before and after the treatment.
Since it's been three years, I'd love to know how the dipped plywood has held up! Also curious about the heat in the dipping process and the adhesives in the plywood.
Hi Kamon, Have you paid any attention as to how much side pressure is created in the bottom of your cooker at the next heating time, because, in my experience, wax expands about 8 percent from cool to melting and can blow the bottom out of poorly constructed dip containers. I am hot wax dipping Australian native bee boxes in a water boiling urn, and after a hive dipping session, I sink a 9 litre stainless steel bucket of cold water into the centre of the urn to displace much of the hot wax. With small hives I am only heating about 25litres of wax. 9 litres in the bucket raises the level to 34 litres in my 65litre boiler, but the hot wax doesn't flow into the water because the heavy bucket-water combo rests nicely on the inside bottom before that would happen. The bucket lifts out easy after the wax has cooled, and leaves a void where the next heated wax can expand with minimal side pressure on the urn.
This part of the year is when all of the unseen beekeeping is done. Remember to take some time for you and the family. It's easy not to. 👍👍. Hello from Kentucky mountains USA.
@@gileshoney5796 same here in Kentucky mountains. But we are having a warm spell this week. But mostly just bundle up and get it done because time IS RUNNING OUT. They always say order bee's and packages now but they should be saying build build build boxes frames bottom boards tops feeders stands ect..ect..ect..... Happy beekeeping. Best of luck to you and your family.
@@houstonsheltonbees814 where about? I'm in Wolfe County (bought our first langstroth) and would love any local guidance and advice. I'm I'm fixing to get my bees from Menifee County.
@@Rubie_the_Black_Widow_Subie Congratulations 👍 I'm in Corbin. But KY has a great beekeeping guide for free in pdf. Best I can remember it has a timeline of beekeeping in it and it is very close. It's black and white. Beekeeping in Kentucky. Hope that helps you. Good luck. Just make sure you have a insulated top in winter with a upper entrance for sweat and ventilation. And plenty of extra feed on top of the frames.
@@houstonsheltonbees814 small world! I had business in East Bernstadt and London this year. As far as insulation what do you recommend? We tend to get snow/ice when nobody else in the state does.
Hello Kamon glad your still doing tutorials and videos in the off season. I use polystyrene hives right now but do have a few Warre's and 8 frame setups that I would use this method to preserve them, I have been using Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent as a finish for the outside surface and leaving the insides rough sawn. How do the bugs react to this preserving on the insides of their hives? Oh by the way I just bought the Nerd shirt!
@@gileshoney5796 I ran them for 3 years and they worked great for 1st or 2 then I had issues with the mite and sorta stopped for a year but went back to polystyrene langs from Superior Bee and Blue Sky. I found out that if you super instead of nader or under super as the Warre' folks they worked better. I get back to them later but I am focused on the old try and proven lang style in poly. The Warre' hives are from the Warre' store up in Michigan and has a superior product and I used the modified variant.
A thought for small beekeepers who want to wax dip without the big investment. Do it in a shallow pan just large enough to lay one side of the hive body in. I am thinking Ike the commercial food service metal pans (like a large stainless steel casserole dish basically) Put it on a hot plate, and do a box one side at a time, with just enough wax to cover the wood. For tops and buttoms, either get the wax deep enough to immerse it half way and then flip it over, or if it's like a high rise bottom board, you might have to do all 6 sides. It sucks having to take 4 times as long for a hive body, but if you are only getting a couple of new ones at a time, you can get a temperature controlled hot plate, or rig up a water heater burner with the thermocouple in the wax, etc, and be doing other things while it cooks, and just flip it occasionally.
Really good video. What would you suggest for applying wax by hand? I keep five hives and the tank, as gorgeous as it is, is a bit overkill for my needs. Thanks!
In New Zealand they only use Paraffin wax on hive bodies and the box's still last 20 years and they have a wet climate. They paint them with latex paint with a roller while they are cooling down and paint is pulled into the timber.
Thanks again for these videos you make! fits me perfectly now when I start my construction of all the equipment I need up here in central Sweden, Right now dark & cold but soon summer comes with the midnight sun when bees can work around the clock in the sunlight :)
Just getting in tut o bees, but the thing I like most about Bee Keeping. Is (1) You can spend thousands to get into it, or pretty much make your own equipment and get into it very affordable. (2) They say stings are good for arthritis. I like hobbies that dont cost a lot to get into.
Hey Kamon great down to earth videos. Love them!!! Going into my 5th season in Nebraska and starting to feel like am getting this bee keeping thing somewhat figured out. I am noticing you don't seem to use many inner covers or top entrances. What are thoughts on inner covers, top entrances, and ventilation? Thanks a million!!! Matt
The bubbling is caused by moisture leaving the wood, here we leave the wood in the bath until the foaming begins to subside, time in the tank depends on the weather and how much humidity there is within the wood.
Kamon my husband and I are brand new to bee keeping this year we have been reading, watching you tube videos and the most useful information we have gained is from you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all. I wish we would have waited to buy our hive instead of being so eager to buy in anticipation of getting our beautiful girls. we purchased our hive from a local farm and garden company the paint job is far from acceptable, card board is stuck to it, so spots are barley painted and the top ridges and bottom ridges are not painted. How should we go abut fixing this problem should we sand boxes down as best as we can in the areas that are problems and re paint? should we oil or latex paint does, the sheen matter, does it just need to be exterior paint or do we need to something higher grade like barn paint, does the color make a difference? since this our first year we want it to be as successful as possible for our girls and we know their hive is important! Keep putting the vides out they are GREAT and very helpful.
Very good question! We're fixing to get into apiary ourselves this coming spring. Our langstroth is fine but we want to coat it to further protect it to insure our investment. We've certainly learned a lot but I'm sure we've barely chipped away at the ice. We decided to go with a generic flow hive to get our feet wet and we'll venture into a more traditional setup when we've gotten more proficient.
Hi Kayman, I was wondering if you had any kind of schematic or could give me some more information on building the wax dipper? It looks like you possibly use a thermostat and how you regulate the internal temperature and so on... Any information you might be able to help me in building my own would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi Kamon, if the Queen runs out of normal comb to lay workers in, will she lay fertilised eggs in empty old Drone cells or will she automatically lay drones. I don't really want too many drones right at the start of spring but rather have workers to get out and collect the early pollen. Should I just cut out excessive drone comb and make them make new worker comb. ?
Do you think wax dipping the lids will cause any condensation to drop back down into the hive, I've not been able to dip any myself but I love the look of the boxes and protection it provides, thanks for the video
Love the video brother! Been waiting for this one for a while now... I am so interested in doing this but could you share the link where you got your wax from? Thanks again
Really off topic question here but when do you start making your starter/finisher colonies for queen rearing? Also how do you combine bees from different hives?
Love your videos I'm looking to make bottom boards and lids im from Pennsylvania was always told plywood is not good because it warps. I know wax dipping is better. What are your thoughts?
How much of a difference would it be for me living in the central Appalachians of eastern Kentucky? You've mentioned further up north but you seem to indicate the uppermost US and Canada. I would say we get more snow and colder temps than y'all.
Nice videos. I don't know if u know this or not but Laurel is the Pa. State flower. Just one ? Did u ever try the CO2 mite test and if u did what do you think. It doesn't kill the bees.
Here in Rutherford County I've seen the first dead nettle (or henbit - I'm never sure) blooming today, 2/3. And daffodils are just on the edge of blooming.
I know it is time consuming but you are a natural on camera so keep the videos coming. (By the way, that beekeeping stuff that you are doing is smart and useful too!)
Work work work...spring is coming. I just bin in a recikling stacion. 100 white enamel stowe tops, and 50 plastic wash mashine covers. Chip, Chip, chip...I got a question for the chat. Is it legal to colect bee wenom, apetoxin in USA?
Curious to know if the type of wax matters? Of course beeswax is worth way more than what you are getting. But does one kind work better? I found a place online that sells bulk recycled wax for about half the price of paraffin wax. Would the recycled wax work or would it be too dirty?
Another bit of nice info would be tank size, material thickness, ........ I built mine out of mild steel, 20x24" 24" tall 1/4" thick bottom and 1/8" thick sides Have 200# of paraffin and 100# of pine gum resin. Haven't dipped anything yet. Didn't know about back purging the joints until after the porosity showed up and made 100's of leaks 😇
It's not finished 😇 I ran into porosity while welding. I'm sure I'll wish it was bigger someday. That size was just giving myself about 2" on each side and have the ability to stand a box on it's end or stack a couple deep.
@@kamonreynolds OK. Where is the ventilation point? I've used them in summer because they're easier than top covers and inner covers. Usually placing a rock or brick on top to hold it down in case of heavy winds. Fall and winter I switch over to the inner cover and top cover. It's more work but it's just my way of doing it I guess.
Kamon, would you mind sharing the veil you recommend, again. In a past video, you made mention of a veil that provided great visibility, now I can't find it.... I
As a businessman time has to be considered. As a hobbyist carpenter I dont see that being that important. If the time is available and the task is enjoyable it is 4 bucks depending on your wood source
I think most paint just to make the boxes look prettier as the wax does not keep the wood from fading overtime. I hope to try it out some with paint this year just for fun.
@@kamonreynolds yea I was Kinna expecting a response form you to be more like its not needed. looks like from your response only needed for fun since it would take a bit to get it to stick and really probably not nessary. thanks for replying.
but tomorrow is not tomorrow when its today and visa versa...I could continue forever given the chance and ability...but Ill leave it at this. Ive got bees to do and other things as well.
Glenn Woodward I don’t use the metric system, but anytime I need to know anything like that, I just Google it. Super easy, for example type in “20 inches to mm”. Most of the time it will give you choices before you get done typing. Cm, mm, and so on. I rarely post a response because some other commenters can be nasty when I have on other channels, but I wanted to help you. Good luck 👍
There is a new company called Appalachian Hivery that has waxed dipped stuff. Once they get their website up maybe they will have lids to offer. Outside of them I don't know of anyone
@@kamonreynolds Thanks for the quick response. Who says you don't answer questions?? Thanks for taking the time to make all these informative videos. I do appreciate it!!
@@kamonreynolds You're a good sport Kamon, I'm only 5'10 so I'm not very tall either. Kidding aside, thanks for showing this dipping process, I like it and am considering trying it out for my woodenware.