In my original reply to a query as to how to cope without an extractor I
suggested several ideas among which was that the extra wax available following
processing was a high value product worth having. Several subsequent posts
have sugested that this is not so and beeswax has a relatively low value. It
depends what you do with it. If you sell it wholesale or exchange it for
goods or foundation with an appliance dealer then I agree the value is low.
However, not a hundred yards from where I am sitting the village hardware shop
sells 1 ounce bars of wax (unfortunately not mine) for 80 pence (about a
dollar and thirty cents) each. This works out at about £12.80 (say $20) a
pound. Alternatively you can mix your ounce of wax with the same amount of
turpentine, put it in a tin with a fancy label and sell it as furniture polish
for £3 (say $5). If you turn the wax into foundation, a pound will give 10
sheets which will make 20 rolled candles at £1 ($1.70) each.
Perhaps I should have said the wax has a potentially high added value.
Chris Slade