I have been working with beeswax that was carefully rendered from cappings at a very low heat (aprox. 160F) in a proprietary home made melter system and noticed that if it is poured in molds soon ( 2 days-3 weeks) after remelting that I have few to zero problems with tunneling or shrinkage. If I leave this gently rendered wax in a water jacketed tank for 3-6 weeks at 163F the wax behaves like beeswax that is rendered at higher temps (180-200F) like in commercial wax melters used in large honey house operations and is what you normally find for resale. So my observation is that beeswax that has been heated for a long time or at elevated temps is much more prone to shrinkage and tunneling in molds. Of course when the outside temps are minus 10F like we have here in Mn right now these shrinkage problems are worse as the wax is cooling faster then as compared to summer months. But with this lower temp rendered wax I don't even have problems in deep winter. Can anyone explain what the variable I am seeing is? Is there a scientific explanation or qualitative measure that can be used to explain this difference I am seeing? This gently rendered wax has superior aroma, texture and color properties and the onset of bloom is also delayed. We call it virgin beeswax.... ******************************************************* * Search the BEE-L archives at: * * http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l * *******************************************************