crowding bees down to make cut comb honey

[riverrat]

I am getting ready to shake a swarm and crowd down a couple of hives to make cut comb honey on an alfalfa field that is going into full bloom and will not be cut. I want to here some of the other keeps experiences with crowding down the bees and shaking swarms. I have done it with good results in the past but I am always looking to improve. Thanks

[dragonfly]

I don't have any experience with crowding down bees, but I want to buy some of the honey. Really. :)

[utahbeekeeper]

My experience with cut comb is that crowding isn't required, just a strong hive and a flow.  Halfway into the flow, I just slap on a super with thin foundation over the excluder and under the other supers of drawn out comb in progress and get beautiful cut comb every year.  Folks who produce the rounds or the wooden squares that want perfection crowd I think.

Alfalfa honey crystallizes faster than most, doesn't it?

[kdm]

The only problem i have had with crowding supers close to brood is they store pollen in the comb honey. Some people bite into a bitter plug of pollen and never buy comb honey again. What i do is put a drawn comb super on first to catch the pollen , and extract that super, and take the comb honey above. this may not work everwhere. I don't get alfalfa in my area.

[SlickMick]

I dont want to hijack this thread but I dont understand the term "crowding down" and that way I may understand the thread better than I do now

Mick

[utahbeekeeper]

To get the bees to make perfect, 100% capped, Grade a  comb honey in rounds or squares, a large and robust hive can be "crowded down" to one hive body . . .  and then a couple of supers of the comb honey medium is placed over an excluder.  The resulting hive will make the perfect honey comb quickly if there is a flow at all . . . . usually in 10 to 14 days.

See below for a great link to expand on this.

[BoBn]

Another option is a "cutdown split"
I can't post a url link, but here is a link: :-D
www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm#cutdown

[SlickMick]

Thanks fellas, I appreciate that

Mick