Comb Honey Production
Adaptation of The “Juniper Hill” Plan
by a skilled comb honey producer
Herman Danenhower of Kutztown, Pennsylvania (danenhowerhoney@msn.com) has adapted the basic Juniper Hill Plan (ABJ, Feb. 2005) to his circumstances and
preferences. His main honeyflow (honeysuckle bush) is early, intense and short.
He keeps his bees in double brood chamber hives with no shallow super and selects the strongest for comb honey production
Danenhower Procedure
Stage 1: The Start; Excluder Partition
In mid-April, about two weeks before the swarm season (early May in his region), the deeps are reversed and, at the same time, the queen is put up into the top deep over an excluder with about 25% of her
brood. Usually by mid-April the queen has already moved down so that after the deep swap she is already confined in the top deep with several frames of young brood
To monitor the hive for swarm cells, the top deep is tilted and examined every 5 days for swarm cells on the bottom bars. If there are no cells by the time swarm season arrives (May 1) such hives are
returned to extract productions.
Stage 2: The Start; Excluder Partition
The split is conducted when the cells become sealed. The top deep is simply set down to the side and reversed. The queen, clipped and marked, is put back into the parent; the parent contains only nectar
and pollen. The bees rush nectar up into the comb honey super(s) to make room for the queen to lay. The jump-start of comb honey in the supers is spectacular.
If the bees swarm out in Stage I before Danenhower gets to them, only the clipped queen is lost (in the grass). The bees return. He splits anyway because he carries with him a few caged mated queens (also
clipped and marked) so they are generally well-accepted.
Stage 3: Follow-up
In Danenhower’s operation, comb honey is produced only over the single brood nest in Stage 2 (extended). He prefers to use the side splits containing nice queen cells to replace winter losses.
Occasionally, to complete the season for comb honey over a two-queen system, he can reunite the two brood chambers when both become queenright and broodright. The queens co-exist for some time; the
better queen survives.
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