Collecting Honey Combs from Your Bee Box

in Animals on the Farm

As a beekeeper just starting out it becomes a confusing hobby with all the hives, frames and bees - not to mention the honey extracting equipment.

For a beekeeper with only one hive it may not cost effective to lay out the money for elaborate equipment. It is perfectly practical to enjoy the honey crop using basic kitchen tools.

Before a super is put on the hive in the spring, the decision has to be made how to harvest the honey later.

Options are:

cut comb honey,
section honey, or
extracted honey.

Cut comb honey is cut out of the frame and packed in 8 oz. and 12 oz. pieces. It is eaten with the wax comb, and is one of the best ways to present honey as aromas and flavors are unimpaired by extracting and heating.

To the beginner who does not have access to an extractor, this method is attractive, because a very small amount of equipment is required.

To cut comb honey the super frames should be fitted with a thin super or extra thin foundation. A whole sheet is usually used for each frame. A 25 to 50 mm deep full-width starter strip may be used instead. Cut comb containers commonly used can comfortably hold a comb about 40 mm thick.

First Steps to Collecting Honey as Combs

Examine the frame before cutting to decide which side of the comb has the better appearance. Lay the frame on a clean tray, and the whole comb cut out of the frame with a sharp knife.

Only the best parts of the comb can be used. The hollow parts at the edge should not be used and uncapped cells kept to a minimum.

Magnified honey comb.

A sharp kitchen knife, a cheese wire, or a stainless steel comb cutter can be used to cut the combs.

All portions of cut comb should stand on a grid to let the honey drain from the outside cut cells. A piece of comb honey swimming in its container in liquid honey is poor presentation. Heather honey on the other hand is a gel and so it can be packaged straight away.

The best storage for comb honey is in a deep freeze, in special plastic boxes, where comb will keep indefinitely. Freezing packaged comb honey will also kill any wax moth eggs and larvae.

Comb honey stored in any other fashion must be examined regularly for signs of deterioration. Another development of comb honey is chunk honey.

Chunk honey is a piece of cut comb that has been put into a jar and surrounded with a clear runny honey, producing what is an attractive presentation.

On the other hand, in the olden days with wild bees...

Finding a stump in the forest that had once been wounded with an axe there existed an opening in which a bee passed, covered in wild honey.

As it turned out, the cavity occupied by the bees was about three feet and a half long and eight or ten inches in diameter.

This swarm had completely filled with the lower portion of the tree with honey. After cutting the outer ring of live wood away, the honey combs were found.