> > .) 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?
>
> Thomas in France, and I believe several other makers have similar devices,
do
> a thing called a 'fondoir'. It is a jacketed tank with multiple outlets,
and
> radiant elements in the closeable lid.

Thanks, I appreciate the ideas coming in. and hope my comments here won't
discourage additional suggestions, but I think I have tried the type of unit
described and found it has serious drawbacks for what I have in mind.  I
offer my experience so that anyone who has mastered the unit and has
insights that have escaped me can set me straight.

Maybe the units you describe are different, but if they are the same as a
Kelley Melter -- a coffin shaped thing with a hinged lid and radiant heaters
in it  -- I've had several of these in various sizes over the years and sold
all of them.

Although they do make good wax, and will not damage honey much when doing
fresh cappings -- if properly operated and as long as all the cappings going
in are white -- they require constant attention, are a fire hazard
(especially if accidentally misadjusted) and smoke a lot if there are any
cocoons or debris in the wax, which would definitely be the case when
melting dark combs.

Moreover, in my experience at least, they require a long warm-up period each
morning and constant fiddling during the day.  There used to be one in
almost every sizeable Alberta honey house, but I know of no one using one
daily during extracting and of very few using them to render after the
season.

I am sure that with today's technology, such melters could be made to work
much better and even be safe to use, but as long as there are cocoons and/or
bees and other debris in the wax, I suspect they will always smoke and
smell.

I hate to sound so negative, but in my experience and for my type of
operation, I have found that -- with the lid removed -- that they make an
excellent extractor sump, but would be a nightmare for melting the 5,000+
old dark frames I want to render.

Maybe someone else has had better experience with them?

allen