Honeycomb Information Wanted

[The anonymous buzzing bee]

I want to make mead, but all the recipies say add (for example)4lb. honey. This is all very good if you are adding your honey from a jar, but I do not have an extractor, so therefore was just going to break up the comb underwater, and then strain off the wax in order to make the must. Does anyone know the rough wax/honey ratio in ordinary worker comb, so I cxan calculate how much comb I actually need to add?

[Phoenix]

There are too many variables to try it that way. Instead, I would suggest that you crush and strain your honey first, by using a mesh screen of some sort. This will allow the honey to drain from the crushed comb, and you will be able to more accurately measure your honey that has been collected.

[Aspera]

Just crush some comb to get liquid honey, and then rinse the crushed comb with water to obtain that lastbit of honey. You don't need to measure the amount of honey, just buy a cheap hydrometer and go by the specific gravity. If I weren't so lazy, I would do this all the time as it is more accurate anyway (honey density can really vary)

[Michael Bush]

In a standard 10 frame spacing about 16 inches square of comb (4" by 4") weighs about a pound. Not very accurate though. I suppose your other issue is how much the wax weighs? I would ignore it. It's negligable. I'd weigh the comb before and, if you really want, weigh the empty comb after.