# How to Store Honeycomb



## Larry09

Hi all,

I started harvesting honeycomb. I know that it's much more labor intensive, but I live in a place where there are lots of beekeepers and adding a piece of comb to my jar of honey was the only way I could differentiate my honey from the rest and get it in some stores. 

Anyway, I cut the comb, put it in a tupperware container and store it in the freezer. I'm now worried that there is condensation inside these containers and that I should be vacuum sealing the comb instead. Can someone explain to me the steps they take to store their honeycomb? 

Thanks,
Larry


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## cheryl1

I'm curious too.


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## davpress

I don't think it will have any effect on the final product. You could pull a piece of comb out of the freezer, let it thaw and then you will know for sure. I have a deep freezer, big enough to put a whole super wrapped in a hefty garbage bag sealed with a twist tie in it. never a problem.


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## Tenbears

One would assume you are using capped comb. Just blot the excess condensation off. As long as the honey it is going into is not close to the 18.5% mark there should be little concern.


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## tech.35058

I harvested some overwintered honey earlier this spring ( let the bees keep the syrup, but I took what little floral honey there was)
I had read an article about "cut comb" honey, how well it sells. Basically a dollar per ounce.
So, I had some nice looking combs, & cut them to sandwich container size & drained them on cooky racks. I sealed up the plastic sandwich boxes, & stored them on the shelf.
I personally like liquid honey better, the wax sticks to my teeth somewhat.
We offered some honey to our elderly neighbor lady. She asked for some "with some comb in it".
My wife took some of my carefully drained cut comb, stuck it in a jar & poured honey over it for her.
I wasn't too thrilled, but she got what she asked for.
The problem I forsee is that the honey will eventually crystalize. Normally, I put the honey jar in hot water to quickly warm it, & theoretically, this might melt the wax, mixing & messing the whole jar.( I have not experienced this, just theoretical.)
But how to store? I store it just like honey. Sealed up on the shelf.


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## Larry09

Thanks, everyone for your responses. What I did at first was take the entire super, put it in a heavy duty trashbag and put it in a chest freezer. The problem was that my freezer can only hold one box at a time. I needed a way to harvest the comb and store it for when I needed to jar some over the winter. 

So what I originally did was I found aluminum pans that were about the length of a cookie sheet and I lined them with wax paper. I cut the comb out of the frame and laid it on the wax paper. Then laid another sheet of wax paper and put another layer of comb. I fit about three layers, put the plastic lid on it and sealed it with masking tape around the edges. I was able to store a lot of comb that way and could pull a container out and grab some comb to fill a case of two of honey at a time over the winter. The layers didn't hurt the caps, so the comb still looked nice when packaged. I didn't see any condensation inside the container when I opened it, but I recently talked to beekeepers who said the container should be air tight or condensation will get in. Whether I'm seeing it or not.

TedBears - I had a similar thought. That if I saw met drops on the comb, I could just blot it off and since I didn't, it was probably fine. But I've just been doing a good amount of reserch about this and have read that you should make your container airtight. I considered buying a vacuum sealer that has a gentle button and vacuum sealing the honey comb in pans in plastic bags. I figure there has to be beekeepers out there that have found a good solution that are willing to share.


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## Larry09

To answer your question, you can still liquify crystallized honey with comb in it. You just have to be really careful that the honey doesn't heat up too high. Wax has a melting point of about 140-150F I believe. If you heat your honey to about 100-110, you're keeping it raw and the comb will stay in tact and look just fine.


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