In a second attempt at making chunk honey to place in quarts I froze a couple of foundationless frames of honey. After 2 days in the freezer I let it thaw and then cut to size and drained it on a queen excluder. Following this I found the wax to be crumbly so I simply crushed and strained it. The comb seemed to almost explode in my hands. Is this because I froze it first or was it a fluke?
i don't think you should freeze it first.
I just cut it to fit and drop it in.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/sgtwal/Harvest004.jpg)
I've never done chunk --- but I understand you have to freeze in my area or the critters may hatch :shock:!
Maybe this is just on comb honey but the folks I know freeze them both.
Freeze for 24 hours and cut while frozen and place into bottles.Must freeze or you'll have shb soup.. :mrgreen:
Quotebut I understand you have to freeze in my area or the critters may hatch
Protein additives. :-)
QuoteFreeze for 24 hours and cut while frozen and place into bottles.Must freeze or you'll have shb soup..
I've never heard of having to do this before. Is this a common practice down south or is this something that should always be done? I have yet to do cut comb. This next harvest SHOULD be my first.
Quote from: bassman1977 on September 09, 2008, 02:10:34 PM
Quotebut I understand you have to freeze in my area or the critters may hatch
Protein additives. :-)
SHB and Wax moth larvae are high in protein.
QuoteQuoteFreeze for 24 hours and cut while frozen and place into bottles.Must freeze or you'll have shb soup..
I've never heard of having to do this before. Is this a common practice down south or is this something that should always be done? I have yet to do cut comb. This next harvest SHOULD be my first.
Freezing is to kill the eggs of the SHB and Wax moth, it used to be that taking such steps was unnecessary but with the advent of more pests and parasites it is just good practice to be more safe than sorry.
It was most likely cause you froze it... You should do it when your extracting the other frames, just take your knife or whatever and cut the size squares you want and wolla you got Comb Honey!!!
Billy Bee's :-D
I'd have cut it while frozen, but I would have frozen it.
I freeze frames then thaw them and cut them. I haven't had a problem.
But new wax is very tender, and cold wax is brittle, so if it was still cool it may be a bit more of a problem. But I usually do it in the summer time when it is a lot warmer than it has been so far this September so the wax may have been less brittle.
Rick
So do you all freeze prior to regular decapping and putting in the slinger or just if you are doing comb / chunk honey ?
Quote from: CBEE on September 10, 2008, 12:36:36 PM
So do you all freeze prior to regular decapping and putting in the slinger or just if you are doing comb / chunk honey ?
Just comb / chunk honey. I don't think that the pests can survive in liquid honey. I actually freeze after extracting liquid honey sometimes to stop crystalization, but that is a whole different topic.
No freezing required for extracted honey.
I cut it to size (for the jar), than freeze for 24 hours, put in a jar, and top with liquid honey...
Try cutting it before freezing... My dad just loves my chunk honey!!!
Be sure you are using fresh virgin wax too. Dont use any discolored comb that once had brood or pollen. I only use the best/cleanest wax (most recently drawn) for chunk honey. Also, I use starter strips of thin surplus that hang just below the frame about 1/2". Some thin surplus can be quite chewy...