At 01:33 PM 3/2/02 -0700, you wrote:
>1.) In the first case, let's assume that the object is to save as much of
>the wax in as clean a form as possible, but that any honey is going to be
>lost.

We (my wife and I) just returned from the Tri-County beekeepers convension.
My wife attended the session on wax where the speaker demonstrated a
fairly complex (ie. requires special equipment) method of cleaning wax.  And
it was stated that he (the speaker) was able to get cleaner looking wax than
with any other method.  My wife's opinion was that our method of cleaning
the wax gave just as good a result using simple equipment.  I can't say because
I didn't see the presentation.

Our method is to simply dump the wax cappings and
broken comb into boiling water.  Stir the mixture as it melts.  Once it
melts we
take it off the heat source and let it sit until the wax sets up in one big
chunk
floating on top.  It's still pretty dirty at this point and there generally
is a good
amount of lighter debris stuck to the bottom that can be scraped off.  The
honey
of course stays dissolved in the water.  (Generally you should have several
times the amount of water as wax and honey).

Then we melt the wax in a double boiler (one stock pot inside another one).
Once melted we pour the hot wax though a strainer cloth (the same type you
strain the honey with) and into molds, bread pans, etc.  You'll have a fair
amount
of slum-gum and other debris, and obviously you don't get 100% of the wax out,
but we do get most of it, and the end product looks good.


>2.) In the second, let's assume there is a lot of good honey in the broken
>frames.  How can we best get the honey and wax separated and salvaged with
>the least damage?  (This is where I suspect the solar melter is the number
>one choice)

I would just break them up (squeeze them) and leave them to drain as I do with
cappings.  I'm assuming of course that the frame is damaged beyond even
temporary repair and that the foundation is essentially unsalvageable.

-Tim