Honeycomb is a marvel, an entirely natural pre-packaged food. It is mostly sugars – fructose and glucose rather than the sucrose of refined white sugar. It contains small amounts vitamins, minerals and amino acids, the rest is water, usually 18%. The beauty of honeycomb is that its contents have not been touched since the bees sealed it in wax. The wax cell is an engineering marvel which bees produce from wax from four pairs of glands. This wax is worked until malleable and formed into a tube that the bee enters and vibrates its wing muscles at 230 cycles per second heating and softening the wax which forms a hexagon upon contact with surrounding cells, creating the most efficient and robust structure for storing honey or rearing brood.
In contrast, honey in a jar could have been microfiltered and heat treated to keep it runny and stop it from crystallising. This process also removes wax and bits of bees after the extraction process. Local honey from a nearby beekeeper at a market typically has minimal processing, usually no more than straining to get any bits out. New Zealand doesn’t allow any honey to be imported so we are better able to ensure that any of the honey we eat hasn’t been adulterated.
Honey can be harvested throughout the summer, but honey in the comb should only be taken out of the hive before New Year. This is because there is a very low risk of tutin poisoning after this period. The native tutu plant can exude a sap, this can be consumed by the Australian Vine Hopper which excretes a sugar-rich honeydew, this can then be collected by honey bees and processed like they would nectar from a flower. Usually, other honeydew honey is a delicacy with a rich complex flavour, it is only when it is sourced from the tutu plant there is a problem. Honey produced after New Year can easily and cheaply be tested for tutin once it has been extracted. Honey in a block of honeycomb can’t be tested, so it must be taken from the hive by the end of December ensuring that it is perfectly safe. Now, is the time to buy it. It keeps very well for several years. Honeycomb is a bit like marmite – you either love it or hate it. There is no doubt that the honey is delicious, but the wax can be challenging.
There are lots of ways to enjoy honeycomb rather than runny honey. A favourite method is on a cheese board; the intense sweetness contrasts nicely the savoury cheese flavours and the quarter gram of honey in each cell is kept fresh. Equally it goes well on a charcuterie board. Next favourite is spread on warm toast. A creamy yoghurt with a tart berry compote and chunk of honeycomb is a real treat. Pieces sprinkled on a leafy salad will add character. My favourite is with a few pieces of artisan chocolate from a local chocolatier. One question that I’m often asked is how do you eat it? Can you eat the wax? Yes, wax is edible, it is fine to chew and swallow the wax though some people prefer to spit the wax out after enjoying the honey within. It is indigestible so will pass through safely. Honeycomb can be stored for years in the pantry or the freezer ensuring this sweet treat is always conveniently on hand.
