Harvesting honey the simple way - Part 3: Getting the last of the honey from the strained comb

Once the honey is in the jars (see Part 2) we were left with plastic containers full of the sticky, strained, mashed comb.  It is possible to extract the last of the honey from this, leaving just the wax behind.

Here's how you do it.  Place the strained comb in a large ovenproof dish and put it in the oven at 70 degrees celsius until it all melts.  Turn the oven off and let the mixture cool. The wax and honey will separate. The wax will form a layer at the top with the honey below.  Remove from the oven and make a crack in the wax in one corner. 

Hold the dish at an angle and let the honey flow out into clean jars. You'll be surprised at how much honey you get!

 

This honey still tastes great but as it has been heat treated it has lost some of its natural goodness........ and as a result we prefer to reserve it's use for cooking.

So you now have additional jars of honey and a separate layer of wax. The wax can be further purified for uses such as candle making.  More on that another time.