by Gena Husman

Created on: February 21, 2009   Last Updated: February 23, 2009

Cut Comb Honey: An Inexpensive Way to Harvest Your Own Honey

Having a couple of beehives "out back" can be a lot of fun and a great way to provide tasty honey for your family and friends. But, it can also be a confusing and somewhat expensive endeavor for the beginner. Besides learning the basic setup and care of the beehives, there is the cost, which doesn't end with the purchase of the bees and the hives - you will also have to buy protective clothing, a smoker, and a few tools.

Then there is the matter of harvesting the honey - extracting equipment can be expensive if you decide to go that route. An extractor, which is a centrifuge that spins the honey out of the comb so it can be bottled, can run anywhere from a couple hundred to a thousand dollars - unless you are able to find some used equipment or split the cost with another beekeeper.

We found that after purchasing 2 hives and the necessary clothing and tools, we had little money left in our budget that first year for an extractor. We were disappointed at first, but after doing some reading, we discovered there was still a way we could harvest our small honey crop that would be inexpensive and easy. Rather than removing the honey from the comb, we could cut squares of comb filled with honey right out of the frames and package them. This is called the "cut comb" method, and is a legitimate way to harvest honey.

In fact, before the invention of the extractor in the late 1800's, all honey was comb honey. Any liquid honey came from manually crushing the comb. Bulk comb honey was processed either as "chunk honey" where chunks of the comb were placed in a jar with liquid honey obtained from crushing some of the comb, or as "cut comb honey" where the comb was cut into pieces and packaged in cut comb honey boxes.

There are some very good reasons to process honey by the cut comb method.

First, it is simple and inexpensive, which makes it a great way for the beginner to get started.

Second, since most beginners will usually have only 1 or 2 hives, it is more cost effective.

Third, cut comb production doesn't require a lot of specialized "know-how" so the average beginner will have no trouble cutting and packaging comb honey the first time out.

Fourth, 1 or 2 bulk combs - the frames containing comb honey - can be cut at a time because it doesn't require a lot of work space.

And finally, some people think the best type of honey is comb honey because it has not been tampered with and the essence of the blossoms - the fragrance

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