This section is from the book "How To Keep Bees And Sell Honey", by Walter T. Kelley. Also available from Amazon: How To Keep Bees And Sell Honey.
Section comb honey is mostly packaged in window cartons because this gives maximum protection and advertising value plus a good look at the honey. It also has the advantage of covering up any unsightly open spaces along the edges of the section. However a lower cost method is to seal the sections in sheets of moisture proof cellophane which are sealed by running a hot iron over the open edges which seals them tightly.
Cut comb honey sealed in cellophane and set in trays makes a dandy display when exhibited in the display cartoon.
"Trays are available to hold pieces of "cut comb honey" which are cut from shallow frames. These shallow frames of comb honey are cut into the proper size, separated and allowed to drain overnight in a warm room, then they are sealed in the cellophane sheets before being placed in the trays. Larger trays are available to hold half-and shallow-frames, which should also be sealed in cellophane before being placed in the cartons.
For the beekeeper who has an extractor, one of the very best packages is the chunk comb honey pack, which is made by fitting as many and as large pieces of choice comb honey into a jar or can, as the container will hold. Wide-mouth jars should be used for this pack and 60% or more of the volume should be comb honey. Cutting and separating the chunks and letting them drain overnight in a warm room will retard granulation, especially if the liquid honey poured over them has been heated to 150 degrees and allowed to cool to only 110 degrees before being run into the containers and sealed. Do not pack more than a 30 day supply of this pack, and beekeepers north of the Mason-Dixon line may have to educate their trade to this pack, but south of this line, this is the principal manner of packing honey for the retail trade.
Comb honey packed in wide mouthed jars with extracted honey poured in to make the balance of the weight is called chunk or bulk comb honey and is one of the fastest selling and most profitable packages.
Federal law requires that all containers be filled to 90% or more of apparent capacity, and be sure to give full net weight or a little more; a good name is better than great riches and the weight and measure inspectors are continually checking on all packages.
Most honey granulates, varying from a coarse to a fine granulation while some divides into about half granulation and half liquid. While most honey in the United States is sold either in the liquid or comb form, there is a very considerable market for CREAMED honey and a few packers do a very nice business with this product. The small beekeeper with 25 colonies or more can now produce a suitable creamed honey with a small investment in equipment.
Of course the beekeeper should use only his best white honey for this purpose and should not attempt to use tupelo, galberry or other nongranulating honeys. First heat the honey to 150 degrees F. and strain to remove all foreign matter and any granules not completely dissolved. Let stand in a tank until the temperature drops to 75 degrees F. At this point stir in 5% to 10% of finely granulated honey and when thoroughly mixed run it directly into the retail packages and store at a temperature of 55 degrees for a week or ten days, taking care to leave an air space between each container so that they will cool evenly and quickly.
Your seed or starter honey will be too thick to mix evenly with your liquid honey so it is best to dilute it 50% with your liquid honey both of which should be about 75 degrees F. and thoroughly mixed into a creamy, thick fluid which is then to be thoroughly mixed with your honey. By 'thoroughly mixed' I do not mean to stir it with a paddle for a few minutes. You will need a motor driven mixing tank with several blades attached at an angle to the vertical shaft which should be run for an hour or longer so that there is a complete dispersion of the seed in the liquid honey. Such mixing tanks are moderately priced in your bee supply catalog with either galvanized or stainless steel tanks.
Probably you will not have suitable granulated honey for seed in which case you should buy some creamed honey which is frequently found in the larger grocery stores of the north or probably you or your grocer can secure a case of creamed honey direct from Sioux Honey Association, Sioux City, Iowa; Lima, Ohio; Waycross, Georgia; Rogers, Texas; Tacoma, Washington; or Anheim, California, or from the Superior Honey Co., Box 1007, South Gate, California, or Walter Diehnelt, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
Creamed honey should be stored in a refrigerated room and your grocer should not be sold over a 10-day supply because it tends to become soft and runny if kept for long periods at room temperatures. In the southern states creamed honey should only be marketed during the winter months or stocked in the freezers rather than on the store shelves with the liquid honey, jellies, preserves, etc.
Beekeepers wishing to go into greater production on a continuous flow basis should write for circular No. 285, the Department of Agriculture, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
 
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