<It is important to appreciate the limitations of a solar extractor, which is very good indeed on odd combs and wax scraps, and excellent on dried cappings obtained when extracting. On the other hand it will not get any worthwhile amount of wax out of old, black combs.> I am afraid I must disagree with the last sentence. As I said in an earlier letter I cut the combs into three inch strips and place them on edge parallel to the sides of the extractor. This allows all the wax, midrib and cell walls to drain freely, leaving a mass of cocoons which fall apart and appear quite dry. In the past I have tried other methods of reclaiming old combs and found it not worth the labour and expense. The solar costs nothing. It takes a couple of minutes to slice the combs and load it. All that's left is to wait for the sun to shine. A long wait for me this year because to date we have had only two days continuous sun. Every scrap of waste wax, cappings, scrapings, damaged and black combs, all go into the solar. As a result I always have a surplus, making my own foundation and a sideline in candles. I have never made any weight tests, percentage of wax recovered. Never found the necessity. However, later this year I will try to do so and report back. Meanwhile I am satisfied that this is the cheapest and labour free method of dealing with old combs for the small beekeeper. Incidentally, to all those who do not yet have a solar and contemplate making one, make it big enough to take excluders, as it makes an excellent job of cleaning and sterilising them. Sid P. _________________________________________________________________ Sid Pullinger Email : [log in to unmask] 36, Grange Rd Compuserve: [log in to unmask] Alresford Hants SO24 9HF England