Rendering beeswax

If you plan to keep bees in a top-bar hive, you will need some beeswax to draw a guideline down the middle of each bar. In the wild, bees build their comb any which way (but always plumb), while in a hive you want the combs straight on each bar so you can lift them out. Beeswax is also nice for making candles, salve and lip balm, among other things.

You can buy it, of course, but if you happen to have some comb, you can melt it down yourself and be sure it is pure. I found some sensible, step-by-step instructions here. You need a couple big pots, some screening, a waxed carton and knee-high nylons. Plus a bungie cord for securing the screen and something to stir with. Do not use pots or a spoon that you ever intend to use for cooking again. I got some super-cheap pots at Big Lots and used a gardening stake for a stirrer.
First you add water to the comb. You want a goodly proportion of water to comb, but not so much that there's any risk of the pot bubbling over and covering your stove with wax. I'm pretty sure that would be a really bad thing.
Bring the wax to a boil and let it boil for 30 minutes. You probably don't really need to stir it, but you will anyway, just to monitor its progress. Meanwhile, prep another pot outside with the screening and bungie cord.

I did not have an assistant to photograph the pouring, so you'll just have to imagine it. When I was done, I had this:
A pot of wax suspended in water and a pile of slumgum.

Yes, slumgum. Isn't that a great word? It's all the detritus from the comb that isn't wax. You don't want to think too hard about that. If you are processing mostly honeycomb, you will not get a lot of it.

It still has some wax in it, so it makes a good firestarter. I made slumgum patties (briquettes?) using a cut-up paper towel roll – my own invention, thank you very much.

I tested one after a few days of drying. I set it on a slice of birch in the chimenea. It took a few tries to get it lit (best to flame it underneath), but then it burned long and steadily despite there being a fairly stiff breeze trying to put it out.

Meanwhile, after sitting overnight, the pot of wax and water separated, with the wax floating on the top. It still had some sediment on the underside, which I rubbed off as much as possible in the water. The wax pieces went into a pot.I discovered in this process that you really want to have a much smaller pot for the second melting, especially if the air is cold. Beeswax melts at about 145 degrees F, but quickly sets up again and clings to the pot as you're pouring it, so a smaller pot is ideal. You melt the wax over very low heat. For the second batch I found a heavy aluminum one at Goodwill with a pouring spout.

And I should issue a warning here: Beeswax is highly inflammable. NEVER LEAVE MELTING WAX UNATTENDED.
Pour the melted wax through knee-high pantyhose into a waxed container such as a milk carton. I used a half-gallon carton the first time, and a quart one the second. Let it cool and harden, then peel away the carton.

Voilà! Pure, organic beeswax.
It smells really nice, and should be enough for my needs. You'll notice that there's not a lot of it. Yes, rendering that entire log full of comb yielded just this much wax (and a whole lot of slumgum). It's amazing how bees have evolved to produce this stuff and use it so efficiently.