wax from hives in mead

[magwa999]

I read somewhere that in the old days they put everything in the mead after they crushed out the honey.
Has anyone ever put the was in the mead?
thanks
I have made two batches over the past years(6 gallons at a time) and it has come out great. Just wondering as I have a lot of wax and scrapings left over form my hives.

 

[Shelley]

I make mead from my cappings wash all the time. I strain out the must-to-be with a kitchen strainer, then proceed to ferment. I haven't had any problems with wax (and other bits) in my mead. I then clean my wax and use them for candles, wood butter, etc.

 

[fatbloke]

Just top up with warm water, seal bucket and then sloshed it around some. Leave to cool over night.

Check when cool, if too viscous, add more water until you can run it through a fine strainer.

Check your gravity, when it's right (either more water or more honey) ferment it.......

After all, the late Brother Adam's meads were made from comb and capping "washings" (they used a spinner to remove the main part of the honey apparently). Surely if it's good enough for a bee expert and mead maker, it should be fine for us.........

 

[Versipelis]

Hi Shelly,

Do you use a hot knife to decap? The reason I ask, I detect a caramelized flavor in my Sack Mead. I assume it's comes from using a hot knife.

 

[Shelley]

I do, but I try to keep the temperature low enough that this doesn't happen. The only caramelization I notice is when the knife sits on the stand for a period of time, and that's only on the knife.