Hi all,

Randy asked:

Hi Kirk,
My tank is much smaller scale, but I also dip the knocked down boxes before
assembly.
I welded up racks of 1/4" steel rod that each hold 10 sides/ends--so you are
effectively dipping 2-1/2 boxes worth of wood at a time.

I'm curious about how you dip a whole pallet of knocked down boxes.  If we
don't separate the pieces, the wax glues them together.  Can you explain?
___________________________________________________________

Hey Randy,

Stack the woodenware (knocked down) sit in a cradle in a *vertical* position and let it sit in the paraffin/copper dip at a temperature that is  below smoking hot until the woodenware is completely saturated and hot to the touch. It takes at least 6 hours to 10 hours in my tank depending if its summer or winter.  I think I set the thermostats on my two Kelly 220 volt thermostats with the capillary tube bulbs which are fixed to the outside of the tank and covered with reflectix bubble insulation at 180 to 190 degrees F.  Just don't let it smoke. 

When the cradle is pulled out with the forklift it drains quite readily in 15 minutes or so and the wax sucks back into the wood. 

If you don't let the wood come up to the temp of the wax (hot) then they will stick together. The amount of dip time and temp ratio are important. 

The wood will feel quite dry to the touch. 

If you leave the wood in too long, you will darken the wood and drive out too much moisture. The water content seems to be integral to the strength of the wood, or at least the bittleness aspect of it when nailing or stapling. I like 2 inch galvanized staples. Very fast. 

I also like the paraffin/copper mix. It is much cheaper than beeswax and inconsequential to the bees in my opinion. 

I do like the suggestion of using old dark beeswax though. I just haven't tried it. Light beeswas is just too valuable to use. 

Btw, we dip all of our migratory tops that are 3/4 inch plywood in the dip tank. That is really nice in regards to longevity. They really suck up tons of wax though. 

Kirk




Kirk Jones
Sleeping Bear Farms   beekeepers making honey...
Benzie Playboys           cajun and zydeco band........

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned 
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html