a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog
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I finally got to use my Finlay Wax Melter! The unit came from Simon Lalonde, Clavet Saskatchewan. This unit makes makes me wonder why I ran our old unit so long... Our old wax sump melter could not keep up to the daily Wax cappings produced throughout the extracting day. Not only was it slow, but it was terribly inefficient with power, costing me too much $$$!
Throughout the production run, we accumulated many drums of cappings overflow which we will now process through the FInlay. My old unit is is retired. The savings of power by operating this Finlay will pay back in dividends.
The Finlay Melter is 220 power, digital thermostat, very well insulated, on wheels, and built for easily access inside the drum. The unit melts inside/outside in. A water jacket pipe in the center of the unit quickens the melt time.
I first run the unit at 75 degrees C for 6-12 hrs to allow salvaged honey to tap off without heat damage. Then we cranked the unit up to 90 degrees C to heat the wax so we can pour it. Approximately 24 hrs cycle.
To finish off, we fill with water to the tap level and press the slum to the bottom. We let it cook for 24 hrs which completely dries out the wax from the slum. The slum crumbles like cake after processing it.
To run the unit commercially, we will continually fill and tap the wax daily throughout the production week, then press the accumulated slum during the weekend to end the cycle. This unit will easily keep up to my wax production on a 1500 hive, 60 frame cowen extraction operation. The ease of use and the efficiency will pay for this unit back in dividends!
