Chunk Honey
Perhaps you are not familiar with “chunk honey“. But, this is a taste experience that you do not want to miss. Liquid honey with chunks of honeycomb in the jar is the traditional way of eating honey. It provides a unique taste and texture. In this article, I will share with you why I think chunk honey is unique, why it’s not as widely available, and why beekeepers may want to consider adding it to their offerings.
As a beekeeper myself, I do not sell chunk honey but some area beekeepers still do. Honey in the comb is one of the best way to ensure you are consuming raw honey vs regular honey that may be heated.
What is Chunk Honey?
When you buy a jar of chunk honey, you get a jar containing one or more pieces of honeycomb covered with liquid honey. The size of honeycomb and the number of pieces in the jar is up to the discretion of the beekeeper.
Traditionally, it was sold in quart sizes. It was not uncommon to find 3-4 pieces of honeycomb in the jar. In the olden days (40 years ago), finding chunk honey for sale in my region was very common. Today, not so much.
A Different Taste Experience
For honey connoisseurs, biting into piece of honeycomb is a special experience. The comb is made of beeswax – yes, beeswax is edible.
As you bite down, the individual cells of honey burst open and provide a mix of texture and flavors. In fact, chunk honey is as much about texture as taste. The wax provides a chewy texture and the honey dissolves in your mouth.
How Chunk Honey is Made
Beekeepers who focus on producing chunk honey in bulk often use a special thin beeswax hive foundation in their frames. This (cut comb foundation) is thinner than normal beeswax foundation.
It also lacks any support wires – giving you the freedom to cut chunks of honeycomb in any size you wish. But, you do not have to have special foundation to bottle up some chunk honey – regular beeswax foundation works too.
The Process
1. As boxes of honey are harvested from the hives, nice frames of comb are set aside. The remainder of honey frames are processed in the honey extractor to separate liquid honey and wax.
Chunk honey jars may contain one or more pieces of honeycomb. In large pints and quarts – 1-2 pieces of comb is common. For festivals, I would often bottle honey in small jars with one tiny square of comb in the jar.
2. Place the chosen honey frames on a table and use a dry warm knife to cut sections of wax comb from the frame. Go slow. A warm knife will cut better but be sure the knife is dry.
You can use a glass of hot water and two knives so one can be warming while you use the other one. For myself, I find that cutting in an up and down motion works better than trying to saw through the comb in an out and back manner.
3. Place the chunks of comb in each jar. Loosely place lids on the containers to protect the comb from absorbing moisture from the air. Honey with a high water content will spoil.
4. As you work, any extra pieces of honey filled wax around the edges of the frames can be collected and placed in a clean bucket. Along with your cappings wax (from the extractor process) the liquid honey can be strained out and used.
5. Dripping honey bags should be tied to a strong support in a warm room. Remaining liquid will drip into a clean collection bucket within a few hours.
Once complete, fill each jar of chunk honey with enough liquid to cover the comb. This keeps the comb moist and delicious. The comb will likely float up in the jar – that’s okay. Place a tight lid on each jar.
If you end up with extra pieces of comb and not enough liquid. You can store those pieces of honeycomb by wrapping and freezing them for later use.
Or, you could just go ahead and eat them right away-if you were not already stuffed from the small bites you have already sampled.
What if You Have Frames with Wires
If you really want to produce a small amount of chunk honey for your family, you can do what I do. You can cut pieces of wax from a honey frame that has wired foundation.
This wax is a bit thicker than the thinner special foundation – but it is still delicious. Take a knife and cut on each side of the support wire – across the top and bottom. You are limited to small rectangles of comb but they work nicely in smaller jars.
Why Honeycomb in the Jar is a Rare Find Today
In the past, most beekeepers did not use honey extraction processes. Instead, they cut beautiful pieces of comb from the frames and crushed the remaining honeycomb to harvest liquid honey.
This was believed to be a good way to make the harvested honey go farther – less liquid was required to fill the jars.
However, now we know using a honey extractor and saving the frames of empty beeswax for next season results in a bigger harvest over time. The bees do not have to rebuild all the honeycomb – they just refill it.
As beekeeping became more widespread and lower cost extractors available, the selling of chunk honey fell out of favor. It costs the beekeeper much more to sell comb. Today, if you find any – expect to pay a premium honey price for this special treat.
FAQs
In general, cut comb refers to square sections of comb packaged individually. Chunk honey is a piece (or several) of honeycomb submerged in a jar of extracted honey.
Sure, use a knife to remove a small section of the honeycomb from the jar. You can chew the honeycomb and swallow or spit out the wax. Or, enjoy eating honeycomb spread on toast or bagels.
Production costs for producing chunk honey are higher than that of other forms. Each year, the bees have to rebuild all of the comb in the frames.
A jar of chunk honey stores well on the shelf as long as there is enough liquid to cover the wax.
This is beekeeper preference but the old standard was 3-4 in a jar sized jar. Today, you may only get one piece of comb.
Final Thoughts
Not everyone will get the chance to experience chunk honey but if you do – be sure to give it a try. It is a taste experience like no other. Chunk honey offers a unique and traditional way to enjoy honey. For beekeepers willing to put in the extra effort and sacrifice some volume- it can be a nice valued added project.