> I have much beeswax in natural state. By the way, I don't know the
> method of the processing or refining of beeswax for export. What kind of
> treatments of natural beeswax do I have to do in order to export my
> beeswax?
 
Rendering beeswax is a simple process for the most part, however it is
dangerous due to the high flamability of waxes and the fact that heat
sources must be used.  Many, many honey houses have burnt down on acount
of wax rendering.  Extreme caution is advised.  It is wise to use a
separate building or work outdoors unless the equipment is designed and
operated very carefully.
 
For small batches, and possibly for large batches in warm countries, solar
wax melters are the safest, cheapest and do the nicest work of the initial
rendering.  AFAIK, they will not remove all the wax from slum.  The slum
also contains wax and can be accumulated until there is enough to render
under pressure and heat to recover the last little bit of wax. But then
again, the slum can be exported in chunks for rendering in an large plant
in another country.
 
Having said that, the process is simply that placing the mass of comb or
cappings in a device to provide heat and to melt it sufficiently to cause
the wax and debris and honey, if any, to run out into a container where it
can sit in the molten state long enough to separate into layers.  After
cooling, a cake of wax can be lifted of.  This cake of wax will have a
layer of 'slum' on it.  Any honey will be below, and on the very bottom
will be any heavy debris like pebbles or nails.  'Slum' or 'slumgum' is an
accumulation of cocoons and debris that absorbs wax and is dark brown and
like wet sawdust in texture when melted.
 
Whether the honey will be of any use or not will depend on how clean the
material being melted was and also how much heat was applied -- and for
how long.  Usually the honey is darkened, but if it is still wholesome it
can be sold at a reduced price for baking purposes or used for animal
feed.
 
As for the wax cake, in some cases it can be scraped sufficiently on
the bottom that the slumgum is removed completely.  In other cases, the
wax will need to be remelted to clean it up.  Melting in a container with
20% or so of water will help clean it up, but some (alkali) water will try
to make soap of the wax, so a bit of an acid such as vinegar (or Hcl) must
be added to prevent this.  Acid will also bleach the dark wax.  Be careful
about using acids since some buyers may find this contrary to their needs.
FWIW,  I've never had a complaint and I've bleached wax quite a bit in
some cases using Hcl (hydrocloric acid aka muriatic acid).  Don't bleach
new, yellow cappings wax.
 
Any cake of wax that is free of debris and which is uniform in colour is
ready to sell.  It is preferable that the cakes are cast in shallow pans
or pails of about one square foot in surface area (900 cm2) and that they
are about about 1/2  as deep as the widest surface dimension.  This is so
the cakes do not have huge surface cracks.  Cakes of wax are dumped
and thrown around and it is best if they are not falling apart.  For this
reason, the wax should not be poured into pans until it starts to scum
over a bit due to cooling.  Pouring at a cool temperature results in less
sticking to the pan and also less cracking.  Try to have the cakes weigh
about the same,-- but I have seen shipments containing chunks of all sizes
and shapes and colours.
 
So, in short, for export sale, the wax should be cast into cakes that are
about 10kg in weight, contain no obvious debris, and do not crumble into
pieces.  Beeswax will be tested for solids (debris) and for impurities,
so it is important to be sure that your product is pure and contains very
little slum.  If you are asked for samples, be sure to take a
representative sample from a number of different blocks, not just from the
best looking chunks.
 
Even clean looking wax has some slum unless it has been decanted very
carefully or filtered, so expect to be docked 3% from the top quoted
price on your best wax -- and maybe more (always complain, though:).  Wax
is graded by colour with the lighter coloured waxes commanding higher
prices;  don't blend your dark wax with the lighter ones unless you know
what you are doing.  You could lower the price on the whole shipment.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Allen
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