Forms of honey

Forms of honey are the ways honey is obtained and presented: comb honey, chunk honey, extracted, pressed, drained and baker's honey. They are set out in Annex I of EU Directive 2001/110/EC. All of them are Honey, only with a different look and handling.

Comb honey is stored by the bees in freshly built broodless combs or on thin foundation made solely of beeswax, and sold in sealed whole combs or sections. Chunk honey contains one or more pieces of such comb. Extracted honey is spun out of decapped broodless combs, pressed honey is squeezed out, if needed with moderate heat up to 45 °C, and drained honey runs out of decapped combs.

Baker's honey suits industry or use as an ingredient: it may have a foreign taste or smell, have begun to ferment or be overheated. The label says "intended for cooking only". From 14 June 2026 the category "filtered honey" is removed from Annex I, and honey with significant removal of pollen counts as baker's honey.

Creamed honey is not an Annex I type: it is liquid honey seeded to crystallise finely. According to FAO, it is mixed with crystallised honey 9 : 1 and held near 14 °C for 10–14 days. Liquid and crystallised honey are equally normal; read more on crystallisation of honey.

Why this matters to you: the form decides how you serve honey. Creamed honey does not drip, comb honey is eaten together with its wax, and baker's honey is meant for cooking only.