| |
A particular type of colony management is required for honey destined to
be sold in complete comb. Apart from being the most traditional form, it can
also be sold to a market which rarely has access to this most basic of all
bee products. Its implied guarantee of purity and freshness is appreciated
by many consumers. Special production techniques have been developed to
produce a clean, fresh-looking piece of section, cut-comb or chunk honey,
which is easy to ship, handle and retail. In any case, these products
require special care during preparation and do not favour long
transportation at warm ambient temperatures, nor long-term storage.
Section comb honey is a small section of completely sealed comb built of
virgin (new) beeswax, preferably with light-coloured honey which remains
liquid until consumed. Round, square or hexagonal sections with
prefabricated wood or plastic frames are given to the colonies with a very
thin foundation sheet. The specially prepared colony fills up the sections
with comb and honey which is directly packaged in an attractive clear
container (plastic wrap, box with clear window etc) to protect the contents
from contamination, moisture and breakage. Special frames and packaging
material are sold by most beekeeping suppliers, but forms, construction and
quality vary from country to country.
Regular beekeeping texts do not always cover section comb honey
production, because it requires more intensive management and better
planning. A special treatment of the subject is given in a book by Morse
(1978) and in the new edition of the Hive and Honeybee (Graham, 1992). Short
articles, such as Taber (1991), occur occasionally in the various beekeeping
journals.
For special attractions, some beekeepers have produced comb inside narrow
mouthed bottles, by providing a guide and enticing bees to build comb and
store honey inside the bottles themselves.
Cut comb honey can be produced in regular frames or topbar hives. If
foundation sheets are used they should be particularly thin and no wires or
other reinforcing materials should be incorporated into the comb. Pieces are
carefully cut according to the package shape and size and are left on a wire
rack to drain the honey from the cut cells, taking care to keep bees away.
Once dry, they can be packaged like section comb honey in clear protective
containers. Extra care needs to be taken not to break any sealed cells or
smear honey over them because it will look unattractive later on. If left in
the sun even momentarily, wax cappings will become transparent and the comb
will break easily with the slightest movement. All other conditions, such as
light-coloured honey, cold storage and avoiding rough transportation and
handling are the same as for section comb honey.
Smaller comb pieces can also be packed inside jars, which may then be
filled with liquid honey. Ideally the comb honey and the liquid honey will
be of the same light clear colour. Each jar should have only one cleanly cut
"chunk" and honey should not crystallize before consumption.
|
