In response the the thread on recovering honey from small amounts of
cappings:
 
The easiest thing I have found is just to put everything into a bowl
and pop it in the microwave until it reaches about 70 degrees
celcius. At this point the wax and most other gunk will float to the
top and eventually solidify. Pour the honey through a sieve once it
cools down to about forty or so degrees and you will get a bottle of
heated cooking grade honey, which will taste okay.
 
Alternatively, if you still have an uncapped super on a hive, put the
cappings in a flat container, put some warm water into it to dissolve
the honey (just a very little), put a few chunks of polystyrene in
the container and put it on top of the hive in an empty super. The
bees will move it down and maybe finish the super for you. I do this
with honey I get from wild hives, let the bees clean it up and put it
into an extractable system for me. Takes a good hive about a day to
move five kilos down into a super. Was quite surprised!(I usually put
the combs on in the evening and then the bees don't mind getting
themselves all sticky and aren't inclined to go out robbing. For some
reason doing this in the day makes the hive that gets the honey boost
go robbing. Bees are strange little creatures.
 
Anyhow
 
Keep well
 
Garth
---
Garth Cambray       Kamdini Apiaries
15 Park Road        Apis melifera capensis
Grahamstown         800ml annual precipitation
6139
Eastern Cape
South Africa               Phone 27-0461-311663
 
3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology    Rhodes University
In general, generalisations are bad.
Interests: Flii's and Bees.