Snatchin' Chives/Allium-Type Seeds

Hello there,
I am new to the forum, so I don't know--even though I did search for the answer in the forum search option--whether this question has been addressed: How do I snatch Allium Flowers (i.e. How do I know when it's time to do so?) and the chives so I don't lose alot of seed and, on the other hand, don't pick the flower head off before it's ready to "drop" seed? Can I put a bag and rubber band around them while still pink, when starting to turn brown, or when turned almost black because I know the seeds are TINY and I don't know what color they end up being when you remove them, any thoughts on this.....P-l-e-a-s-e? Also, I have the same question about coneflowers, as I seem to either picking them when still too "alive" or I've picked them AFTER the seed has dropped, so I guess those are questions about both the Allium family and the Echinacea-Coneflower family, so I'd love to get answers, as I'm saving them for selling to raise money for our Church's "hunger garden" and I want to be sure they will be ready to snatch when I get them!

Thanks a bunch!

Sincerest Blessings,
Thor gardenerthor@comcast.net

I see no one has responded to this so I will put in my penny's worth. This is what I do and not intended as a definitive answer.

I wait until the flowers have dried to a nice dirty gray (not unlike my hair) and I can clearly see the little black seeds. I then use a sharp scissors to snip the flowers into a container. A cup or bowl, not something with folds because the seeds are so small they can get tucked away. And white ceramic works well because the seeds are so easy to see in contrast. I use the scissors because you want to disturb the other flowers as little as possible. The seeds do drop out very easily.

Since I collect seeds primarily for my own use and don't need to be 100 percent efficient, I am not terribly careful. I imagine bagging would be an alternative that might produce better results, but I have never tried it so cannot say how best to go about it.

Thank you so much for your answer, makes perfect sense to me!

Sincerely,
Thor