I have recently acquired a wax melter and wax separator (as sold by Kelly's
in KY, USA). The melter is a stainless system and works pretty well
(although the gunk is not kept out of the melted wax very well). The
separator is an old galvanized one, but can be painted to prevent
contamination (or replaced by a newer, stainless unit, at a later time). I
melted a 5-gallon pail of drained cappings and ended up with a much smaller
bucket of mixed honey (bakery grade only now), wax and slum-gum.  Much
faster than the solar melter and able to do it all at once, rather than just
as much as would fit into the bread pan (used in the solar melter as a
collector).

My questions:

Does anyone have actual directions on how these are supposed to work, that I
could get a copy of? If so, please email me directly for contact info or
with a web location for said directions.

Does anyone uncap directly into their melter (as Kelly suggests in their
catalog)? If so, how well does it work and do you let the honey drain out
for a day before melting the cappings?  What height do you have the bottom
of the melter? Do you use any sort of insert when uncapping, or just the
screen that comes with it?

How does the wax separator work? I can see where you would probably have the
melted wax/honey mixture drip in on the angled part of the bucket (to
prevent/reduce splatters), and presumably at some point the honey comes out
the lower pipe?  Is there any special setup (other than fixing some way to
capture that honey) to get this working properly? What sort of limits should
be followed to prevent overflow of wax in the bucket itself? Or, is the
entire separator setup a waste of time (not money at this point, since it
was essentially free)?

I also ended up with a 2-frame (no reverse needed) stainless extractor,
which I dont' need. The baskets are rusted and I don't feel like trying to
rehabilitate them. I can either use it as a tank (should work great, no work
involved, only have to make a top for it) or can purchase the cappings
spinner from Kelly.  Does anyone use the spinner? Do you like it? Do you get
a large amount more honey out of it versus letting the cappings drain for a
day or two? I.E., is it worth the money (other than the convenience of
getting done faster, so things can be cleaned up sooner)?

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And, last but not least, the dark wax question.  I had been dropping some
scrapings of wax from the brood chamber and from cleanup up some old frames
into the wax melter on and off last fall and this spring. It never amounted
to much and I didn't get around to retrieving it until today. There is an
approximately 2" thick, bread pan shaped, loaf of chocolate wax there. A
small amount of obvious sludge is on the bottom (to be cut off), while the
rest seems to have incorporated the bits of propolis and other dark "stuff"
into a single, uniform block of wax.  Cutting through it reveals a sort of
soft, uniform wax. I already have one person wanting it for crafts involving
dark colored leather, so it is not a total waste. The question is, if I melt
and strain it at this point, will I retain the color it is now, or will I
end up with some lighter wax and a darker layer (as when doing cappings and
dipping out the best yellow wax)?  I actually want to retain the current
color (yes, it will win no prizes among beekeepers, but crafters are a
different sort entirely and will pay extra for chocolate colored wax).  Any
ideas or comments?

Karen  Oland