On Tue, 28 Nov 2000 17:38:30 -0000, Dave Cushman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Some years ago I read of a method of purifying beeswax using wax melted in
>10% water with a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide added (at just less than
>boiling point) the H2O2 boiled vigorously with very small bubbles wetting
>any particles that were in suspension in the wax. (there also may have been
>a bleaching action due to the H2O2).
>
>This sounds dangerous to me...Does anyone have any experiance of this
>technique?

I use H2O2 to lighten the color of already clean filtered beeswax. I add about a cup of 35% H2O2 (not the 3% from the
drugstore) to about 90 lbs of wax at about 180 deg F. The wax foams up for quite some time, and care has to be taken
that the container is deep enough that it will not overflow. After about 1/2 hour the H2O2 is boiled off and the foaming
stops. It will be noticeably lighter in color and clearer in the liquid state. The only danger with this procedure would
come from an overflow. The foaming wax in the container does not seem to be flammable at these temperatures.

--
Mark Jensen   Double J Apiaries   [log in to unmask]