> Without exception, every commercial producer of comb honey that I know of
> (defined as producing 5,000 or more sections a year) does a weekly
> inspection of the bottom of frames and, when queen cells are
> seen, cuts them out (or destroys them) to manage swarming.

With all due respect, I never *ever* searched out and cut queen cells in all
the years I produced Ross Rounds, some 20 years or so -- and in some years
we exceeded 30,000 combs produced.  We had some swarms, but usually swarming
was pretty minimal.

We relied on good timing for setting up the comb hives and giving them lots
of room early on, then reducing the space after the swarming period ended
and finishing was required.

The thing to remember about swarming is that if an expanding hive is
restricted  -- *even for one or two days* -- before swarm season, it is
likely to go out when the time comes.  Bees remember.

When I say lots of room, I mean *super* room.  We *never* produced rounds on
doubles.  It can be done, but it is a headache.

The principle for comb production is the similar to that in using excluders:
If you give the bees enough room to be happy under an excluder, they will
treat it as a lid oftentimes.  The secret in both cases is to give them only
enough room for brood in the brood chamber and not enough to store food
beyond their immediate needs.  Then they will accept and use the space above
the excluder or the space in the comb supers without balking.  Otherwise,
stagnation and swarming are frequent problems.

The popular double standard brood chamber used in extracted production is
actually about 25% to 40% too large for good management in many areas --
even for extracted honey -- because the bees often have enough room down
there that they are not forced up.  Unless the queen is young and the strain
one that expands rapidly, or the flow really inspiring, there can be
stagnation under the excluder -- or under the comb supers.  *Ideally*, the
queen should just barely run out of space at the very peak of egg laying and
the bees are then forced to use other space for honey storage.  They do so
with enthusiasm, and then as the brood rearing backs off, some food is
stored in the single.  Once the bees have accepted the space up top, they
will return to it and work it without restraint until the weather cools.

The single standard is ideal as a brood chamber for maximum honey production
in both comb and extracted production (using and excluder) if managed
properly, but it has some demands.  The major one is that the beekeeper has
to be pretty much on his/her toes to avoid starvation at some time or
another during the season.   Another is that the winter food chamber has to
be put on early enough that it can be conditioned and filled by the bees
while they are still in good flow and temperature conditions or there can be
higher than necessary wintering losses.

This question of cell cutting may be a local thing too.

as we are learning, what works or is even essential in one area may be
gratuitious or harmful in another.

allen