Hives must be cleaned, repaired and refurbished, and monitored for signs of illness, disturbance by animals and overcrowding. When the time is right, the honey is harvested. Smaller, independent beekeepers simply filter the honey to remove wax chunks, bees and other debris normally found inside a hive. Then they put it in jars. The larger, commercial producers use heat and high-pressure filtering to ease packaging and to produce a clear product.
Honey is graded to indicate the degree of filtering and has nothing to do with flavor or sweetness.
Grade A is the highest grade given. Comb honey, taken directly from the hive, has the liquid honey still stored in the waxy comb, which is edible. Chunk honey includes small bits of the comb. By far the most common honey sold is liquid honey, which has been removed from the comb. Spun honey is honey with some moisture removed to make it thicker and easier to spread.