Bees wax

[pls1911]

Has anyone purchased bees wax lately?
What is the going rate?
I assume pricing by the pound?
I don't use it, but found a bee keeper who knows a few more. And they all have wax with little local demand.
If there is a demand here, I'll set up a wax trade thread for you folks to get together.

[John Boy]

Would be beneficial to know the price that your local bee keepers would be selling it for

[tallwalker]

USDA keeps a running news sheet on spot honey. http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf I am sure there is info about bees wax somewhere in there as well. Sopt prices for Montana are here http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Montana/Publications/livestock/hony_wax.htm. Probably has more to do with quality, processing, intended use, etc. I hear the refined stuff for candles can be as much as $15/lb.

[aarolar]

Last I bought I paid 15$ for a lb local.

[w5pv]

Check with RandyRat I found him to be cheaper than the locals here also a member of CastBoolits and a very a good fellow to do bussiness with.

[osteodoc08]

I'll also second getting in touch with RandyRat.

[Yodogsandman]

Thirds, RandyRats got great beeswax (cheap) and he's a great guy to deal with!

[Edward]

And great on shipping is why Randy rates a five ,(say that 5 times Quik)

[largom]

Another vote for Randy!

[dilly]

He may be of use not only as a price check but possibly even as someone who could buy a largish quantity from those beekeepers to process and resell.

[Beagle333]

Randy is great. Great product, great price. (Cheaper than my local, by half!)

[.22-10-45]

1++ for Randy! Has Anhydrous lanolin & carnauba too.

[irishtoo]

i buy from randy rat

[Wasalmonslayer]

Another plug for Randy great wax and exceptional customer service!

[okshooter]

$17.99/lb. at Michael's (arts and crafts) in the Tulsa Hills shopping area. A 50% coupon provided by the wife softened that blow.

[AggieEE]

Another votre for Randy, I only bought from him once but the next time I need beeswax I'm pming him.

[newrib]

RandyRat is the source for quality beeswax and other related products with really fair prices and great service. Do a search for him on this website.

[cajun shooter]

The arts and crafts places are the last place to purchase any beeswax from. They are almost triple what may be purchased from our member Randy whom I've done business with for many years. He also has some other nice products which maybe used in lube making at very good prices for forum members.
I'll keep my business with our forum members. Later David

[Elkins45]

I've bought from Randy 2 or 3 times now. Good quality at half the price (or better) than local. I can't see buying from anyone else.

[leebuilder]

$17.99/lb. at Michael's (arts and crafts) in the Tulsa Hills shopping area. A 50% coupon provided by the wife softened that blow.
I payed 27 a pound up here. Pricey but a pound will last along time.
Gonna try a get local next time

[John Boy]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?86774-Beeswax-for-sale

[fryboy]

as you may of noted competition can be wild ( from trendy pricey places ) to mild ( like randy or various other places on the web ) i've asked many local-ish bee keepers and hear $1 a oz. , i dont buy from them altho they may sell a lil bit here and there i'd wager they dont sell alot, the more reasonable ones get my business ( which often includes a few gallons of honey
i've scrounged it everywhere i could where it was reasonable as i use it for quite a bit more then lube , some of the pricing ranges reflect quality of it ,sadly some of the refining can also reduce the properties that we need the most with it , the market does vary like most commodities but $4 to $10 a pound is where i currently see it ( the latter being the refined make-up/candle type supply houses )

[Good Cheer]

Got wax last time from Rudy's up around Livingston, Texas.
Seems to me the drive up price was better than what they have on line.

[Bullwolf]

I found a round piece of honey comb from an abandoned bee-hive this weekend while on the Ranch. I had previously made note of the location, and paid close attention to it since I'm somewhat allergic to honey bee stings.

Probably should have taken a before picture, but I didn't think about doing that until after I was finished.

The piece of comb looked a lot like this.

http://gabrielcheah.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/img_9554-honeycomb.jpg

Oddly there was no visible honey inside of the comb that I could detect.

I remembered how hard it was for me to find a bee's wax candle to flux with, so I grabbed the piece of honey comb, and hung onto it.

I cleaned it up as best as I could, then crushed all of the comb/bees wax into smaller pieces inside of a Ziploc freezer bag, and then transferred the pieces into an aluminum beverage can which I had cut the top off of.

I used the beverage can as a double boiler, by placing it inside a pot of boiling water, using a pair of pliers for a handle. I eventually melted the wild honey comb down into a round can shaped ingot of unfiltered liquid bees wax.

I let it partially solidify outside, then I put the bees wax can in the freezer. The bees wax shrank down while cooling off in the freezer, which made removing it easy

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138713&d=1430795999

It's kind of chunky looking, but i'm betting its a nicer smelling flux than using old pieces of a paraffin candle after my sawdust flux step. It was fun to make as well. I even briefly considered making a natural bees wax candle out of it.

I thought all of my fellow lube experimenters, and bees wax aficionados here would enjoy the story - as well as the end result.


- Bullwolf

[retread]

randyrat is the way to go for Beeswax. Try out his bullet lube while your at it. He also has some great lanolin. Great guy to deal with.

[osteodoc08]

Bullwolf, thanks for the story. A friend of mine keeps hives and I use old cut comb that he's processed as flux and it works dandy. Smells good. I imagine you'll enjoy using that beeswax.

As an aside, I keep "purified" beeswax in an aluminum can with the top cut off and will place a home made dipper in the melting pot and when it's hot, put the dipper in the wax to melt off a little and pour it on top of the melt to reduce and keep the good stuff in the melt.

[roglar]

$8 / lb. from a beekeeper in Fruitland id.

[Blammer]

2-3 dollars a pound plus shipping is about average here in NC.

[WBG]

I would buy from Randy. Perfect product and service. Brian

[hotbrew]

I use Randy's beeswax. Good product and nicely filtered.

hotbrew

[Eddie2002]

I've a few hives that keeps me supplied in bees wax, honey and the ocassional sting. When the comb gets old I toss it in a solar wax melter which has a paper towel as a filter. It comes out nice for candles and boolit lube.

[chuckbuster]

I didn't know you could get beeswax from anyplace/anyone but RandyRat.....

[AtlLaw]

randyrat is the way to go for Beeswax. Try out his bullet lube while your at it. He also has some great lanolin. Great guy to deal with.

+1 Best I found after a lot of looking.

[44man]

+ for randy, best quality at a very reasonable price. No need for extra refined stuff either, that is the cost increase for soaps, etc.