Comb honey

FAO recommends light-coloured honey that stays liquid until eaten for comb honey, and says honey in chunk honey jars should not crystallise before consumption.

Comb honey products do not tolerate long transport in warm conditions or long storage; in the sun, wax cappings can quickly turn transparent.

Section comb honey is a small piece of completely sealed comb built of new, virgin beeswax.

For section honey, colonies are given round, square or hexagonal wood or plastic frames with a very thin foundation sheet, which they fill with comb and honey.

Cut comb honey can be made in regular frames or top-bar hives; any foundation must be particularly thin, with no wires or reinforcement in the comb.

Cut pieces are drained on a wire rack to let honey run from the cut cells, keeping bees away, before packing in clear containers.

Honey sold in complete comb needs a particular type of colony management; FAO notes that section comb honey in particular requires more intensive management and better planning.

The EU Honey Directive defines comb honey as honey stored by bees in freshly built, broodless combs or thin foundation sheets made only of beeswax, sold in sealed whole combs or sections.

The EU Directive defines chunk honey, or cut comb in honey, as honey which contains one or more pieces of comb honey.

In the EU, the simple name 'honey' may replace most product names, but not for comb honey or chunk honey, which must be named as such.

The Codex Alimentarius honey standard similarly defines comb honey as honey stored by bees in freshly built broodless combs, sold in sealed whole combs or sections.

Codex defines cut comb in honey, or chunk honey, as honey containing one or more pieces of comb honey, and requires these styles to be declared on the label.