How To Render Beeswax Cappings Into Beeswax Blocks
- Laurence Edwards
- 13 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Beeswax cappings are one of the nicest by products of extracting honey. They look and smell fantastic, they are usually much cleaner than old brood comb, and they give you some of the highest quality wax you will ever get from your bees. A lot of beekeepers scrape them off, let them pile up in a tub and never quite get around to dealing with them.
That is a shame, because with a simple process you can turn those sticky cappings into clean wax blocks ready for candles, polishes or swapping in against the cost of new foundation.
In this guide I will show you how I render beeswax cappings in a straightforward way that gives excellent results. You do not need specialist kit. A bit of patience, some basic kitchen equipment and a focus on safety will get you most of the way there.
Why Cappings Wax Is Worth The Effort
Cappings are the thin wax seals the bees put over ripe honey. When you uncap frames for extraction, you slice or scratch those seals away and end up with a mixture of wax, honey and the odd bee part in the tray. Because cappings are drawn just for sealing honey, they usually have far fewer cocoon layers and less embedded dirt than brood comb.
That is why the wax from cappings tends to be lighter and cleaner and is often preferred for higher value uses. I treat cappings as a premium wax stream. Old brood comb and brace comb still have value, but the wax from cappings is what I reach for first if I am making nice candles or cosmetics products.
Rendering beeswax cappings is also a good way to squeeze a little more value out of your honey crop. The bees have worked hard to make that wax. It makes sense to use it rather than let it go to waste or sit in the corner growing mould.
Step 1: Collect And Store Your Cappings
The process starts at extraction. When I uncap frames, I let the cappings fall into a dedicated tank or tub rather than straight onto the floor or into a random bucket. That way I know everything in that container is destined for wax recovery.
If you are only running a small extractor, a simple food grade bucket or strainer under the uncapping tray is enough. Try to avoid letting too much water, cleaning fluid or general dirt into the mix. The cleaner the material you start with, the easier the rendering job will be later.
Once I have finished extracting for the day, I move the cappings into a lidded container.
If there is a lot of fresh honey still mixed in, I prefer to move quickly to the next step rather than leave them sitting around in a warm room where they can start to ferment.
Step 2: Let The Honey Drain Out
Before you melt anything, it makes sense to let as much honey as possible drain out of the cappings. That way you recover more honey and have less sticky material to deal with in the melt.
A simple way to do this is to tip the cappings into a coarse strainer or colander over a bucket, then leave them somewhere warm for a day or two. The honey runs through, the wax stays behind, and you end up with a bucket of perfectly usable honey.
Do not worry about getting every last drop out. You just want the worst of the bulk honey to drain away so that what goes into the pan is mostly wax with a bit of residue, not a thick porridge of honey and cappings.
Step 3: Do The First Melt With Water
Once the cappings have drained, I move on to the first melt. For most small scale beekeepers a large pan and a hob are enough, as long as you keep safety in mind.
I half fill a sturdy pan with clean water then add a double boiling system (like the one below) and add the drained cappings and water and gently heat everything until the wax melts. I keep the temperature well below boiling and I never leave the pan unattended. Beeswax is flammable if it is overheated, so this is not the time to go and do another job in the yard.
As the wax melts it separates from the water and starts to float to the surface. Dirt, honey residue and heavy debris tend to stay in the water below. Once everything has fully melted and mixed you can pour straight into a bucket and let it set with all the bits in for further processing later.
Step 4: Remove The First Wax Cake And Scrape The Base
When the pan is completely cold, the wax on top will have formed a fairly solid cake. I gently loosen it from the sides and lift it off in one piece if I can. Underneath you will find dirty water and a layer of sludge. That can be poured away and discarded safely. It does not go down the sink.
If you flip the wax cake over you will see that the underside is often rough and full of trapped debris. I scrape that dirty layer off with a knife or hive tool, working over a bin. This first cake will not be perfect. That is fine. The aim of this stage is to get from sticky cappings to a single, manageable block of wax with most of the honey and rubbish removed.
Step 5: Filter And Remelt For Cleaner Beeswax
To turn that rough cake into a nicer product I like to do a second melt with some form of filtration. In my video “I Was Filtering Beeswax Like A FOOL” I show exactly how I simplified this part of the job, using basic strainers and cloths to get a much cleaner result without overcomplicating it.
The method is straightforward. I break up the scraped wax cake, remelt it gently with a little water, and then pour the molten wax through a filter into a clean bucket or tub. Old cotton cloth, fine mesh or purpose made filter bags all work. The wax passes through, most of the remaining debris stays behind. Once again, I leave the container to cool completely so a new, cleaner block sets on top.
You can repeat this melt and filter step more than once if you want very clean wax. With cappings you may find that one or two passes are enough to give you a light, attractive block that is ready for use.
Step 6: Dry And Store Your Beeswax Blocks
After the final melt and filter, I like to pour the wax into small moulds rather than one huge block. Old silicone baking moulds or purpose made silicone blocks work very well. Smaller pieces are easier to weigh out for recipes and easier to swap in against foundation.
Once the blocks have fully set I pop them out, let the surfaces dry and then store them somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sunlight. A simple cardboard box or lidded plastic tub is fine. The main thing is to keep them clean and away from strong smells that could taint the wax over time.
What I Use Cappings Wax For
Cappings wax is the wax I am happiest to use for nicer end products. Simple poured candles, votives and tealights are a great use because the lighter colour and cleaner burn really show through. If you make your own polishes or balms, cappings wax is a good fit there too, provided you handle everything hygienically and follow appropriate recipes.
On the beekeeping side, I also treat rendered cappings as a currency. Many foundation suppliers will accept clean beeswax in part exchange for new sheets. Sending in nice, light blocks from cappings instead of dark brood wax increases the chances of getting back high quality foundation made from equally good wax, especially if you are having your own wax milled into foundation!
The point is not to chase perfection. The point is to have a simple system that turns a sticky by product into something you can actually use or trade.
Watch Next: My Beeswax Rendering Videos
If you want to see this kind of process in action, these two videos from my channel are a good next step.
I Was Filtering Beeswax Like A FOOL! How To Filter Beeswax - Simple Beeswax Filtering - Cheap Beeswax Render -
Rendering Beeswax With Sunshine: A Simple Guide -
Recommended Playlist: Rendering Beeswax
If you would like everything in one place, this playlist brings together my core videos on cleaning and rendering beeswax from cappings, brood comb and other scrap wax.
Rendering beeswax -
See This On Social
For a quick look at my simple beeswax filtering method, here is a Facebook post that links to the original video and shows the sort of crude filtering that still produces very usable wax.
Bringing It All Together
Rendering beeswax cappings does not have to be complicated. Collect the cappings cleanly, drain off most of the honey, do a controlled melt in water, scrape away the worst of the debris and then use one or two rounds of filtering to get to a clean, usable wax. Once you have a small stack of blocks on the shelf, you will wonder why you left cappings sitting in a bucket for so long.
If you want structured, step by step help with practical jobs like wax handling, honey extraction, comb management and all the other seasonal tasks that keep your colonies productive, you can learn more inside my 14 Day Beekeeper online training here:
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