Messer-thingummy-branter-sums

They're actually called 'mesembryanthemums' and are a riot of colour at the moment.

Four candles...

When I bought the two spare hives from Matlock they came with a lot of frames with old foundation in. Gradually, over the weeks, I have been clearing it out of the frames and putting it into a big tub. I decided, after taking advice at Stoneleigh, to melt it all down and get it ready to exchange for something useful.

So it was, on a dreary Sunday morning, I took out our best saucepan and filled it with a little water, put it on the gas and warmed it up. As it warmed I added some of the old comb and started to melt it down. It’s amazing how much comb can melt down into such a small amount.

Using a plastic herring tub from Lidl, an old tin that once held Cadbury Heroes and a pair of tights we managed to turn a load of dusty and spider-web-ridden comb into a selection of wax moulds. I’m quite pleased at the result and hope that subsequent melting days will be easier, quicker and, from a cleaning-up point of view, decidedly less messy.

Take a box of old comb...

Melt in your best pan until liquid...

Get the wife to donate her old tights and then burn her fingers on hot wax...

Produce a selection of odd-shaped blocks of wax for various uses later.

The only mould I have specifically for wax and which you can buy for £1 a 1oz block.