Comb honey producing colonies should draw, fill and seal supers of comb honey in a relatively short period. To accomplish this goal beekeepers need a large population of adult bees headed by a young queen that has little or no open brood to care for. Colonies that will be used for comb honey production should be built up to 2-3 deep hive bodies of brood and bees in the spring. When the main honey flow is within a week of beginning, the colony's brood nest should be reduced to a single brood box containing 6 combs of emerging sealed brood and 3 combs of pollen and nectar. The old queen should be removed and the bees shaken from the other two boxes onto the ground in front of the colony. The combs from the 2 extra boxes can be placed on any other colony that could use a boost in brood. Place a caged queen in the single story colony between 2 brood frames. Leave the exit cork in place so that the queen cannot be released by the bees. Put a queen excluder above the brood nest and stack on 2-3 comb honey supers. After 5 days open the colony and examine the queen cage. If the bees are feeding her and can be brushed from the screen with a gentle stroke of a finger she is accepted and can be released. Before releasing the queen take fresh honey from the combs with a finger or hive tool and smear it on the queen cage screen. When the queen is slightly sticky, remove the screen and dump her onto the top bars. The bees will lick her clean and she will begin her duties. Queens that are not laying can fly, so be sure to make her slightly sticky with honey before removing the screen. If the bees surrounding the caged queen are biting and clinging to the screen, set her aside and remove all combs and shake the bees on the ground at he hive entrance. Carefully examine the frames for queen cells and destroy any you find. Replace the caged queen and return in 4 days to release her. Remove supers as soon as they are sealed and capped. When adding an additional super, place it below the other supers and directly above the brood nests. At the end of the comb honey producing season, you will need to take a super of honey from another colony to put on the comb honey producing colony for winter stores.

- Marion Ellis, University of Nebraska

Browse related Faqs by tag: honey, bee health