Where should I place the excluder on a busy hive?

[Kiwi Will]

Im new to this bee keeping lark.

I bought my 1st Nuc in Dec last year.
Its carried over through the winter well and I have now a 3 box hive. Its spring and bees are very busy.
I recently placed a smaller 3rd box on top of the other two and at that time placed the excluder between the brooder box and the 2nd box. The bees seemed happy and have started to draw out the wax in the top 3rd box.

Yesterday when inspecting the whole hive, I noticed that there was quite a number of drones above the excluder. There didn't seem to be any NEW brood laid down up above the excluder in the two top boxes but because the the drones were there, I thought that they might think it was a Queenless hive so I have removed the excluder and placed it between boxs 2 & 3.
This will mean that the Queen will be able to work on 20 frames in the bottom 2 boxes. Probably 40 - 50% of the 20 frames have honey laid in them.

Is that much room required?

I took out 3 frames which had the least brood laid on them (out of the bottom box) and I'm hoping that the replacement frames new foundation will be drawn out and the Queen will use them for brood.
Because most of those frames in the 2 bottom boxes are reasonable laden with honey, I thought that its likely best to make more space for her & that she will likely stay only where there is room for her to lay.

Is that correct?

Where is the excluder normally put? Between boxes 1 & 2 or on top of 2?

When box 2 is pretty well full of honey, (assuming that the excluder goes between box 1 and box 2) is the next supa box put above it or below? ie., Are the bees forced to walk over top of full frames to get to the empty supa right up top?

Thanks for all the wisdom out there that gets shared on this site. It really is brilliant and I appreciate everyones input greatly. Ta from me down here in NZ (& who's goin' into summer)

[SwedeBee1970]

Excluders go just above any brood super.

Make sure your queen is not above the excluder. The drones should be too big to fit through the excluder. In the states, we're getting closer to winter and the drones are being swept out of the hives. Some of them may fly up to an inner cover entrance and get trapped in the honey supers.

The idea is up, up and away. Only add a brood super when 7 out of 10 frames are filled. Close to Fall, add a honey super at a time until 7 of ten are filled.

[LenInNorCal]

I bought my 1st Nuc in Dec last year.
Its carried over through the winter well and I have now a 3 box hive. Its spring and bees are very busy. I recently placed a smaller 3rd box on top of the other two and at that time placed the excluder between the brooder box and the 2nd box. The bees seemed happy and have started to draw out the wax in the top 3rd box.
Yesterday when inspecting the whole hive, I noticed that there was quite a number of drones above the excluder. There didn't seem to be any NEW brood laid down up above the excluder in the two top boxes but because the the drones were there, I thought that they might think it was a Queenless hive so I have removed the excluder and placed it between boxs 2 & 3.
This will mean that the Queen will be able to work on 20 frames in the bottom 2 boxes. Probably 40 - 50% of the 20 frames have honey laid in them.

The excluder was made to exclude the queen from moving up. The drones are to big to move down through it, like the queen.
You don't say if your two lower boxes are deeps or mediums. But since they made it well through winter already it seems you are on the right track. Around here we think two deep boxes as a minimum are about right for survival through a winter. So I would put the excluder on top of the second box and harvest all you wish (depending on other issues of course, like weather, nectar flow, etc) in the fall.
As she is laying eggs she no longer needs the drones since she is fertilized for life, but come fall when all the drones are kicked out your girls may have trouble getting through the excluder.

Is that much room required? I took out 3 frames which had the least brood laid on them (out of the bottom box) and I'm hoping that the replacement frames new foundation will be drawn out and the Queen will use them for brood.
Because most of those frames in the 2 bottom boxes are reasonable laden with honey, I thought that its likely best to make more space for her & that she will likely stay only where there is room for her to lay. Is that correct?
Where is the excluder normally put? Between boxes 1 & 2 or on top of 2? When box 2 is pretty well full of honey, (assuming that the excluder goes between box 1 and box 2) is the next supa box put above it or below? ie., Are the bees forced to walk over top of full frames to get to the empty supa right up top?

You are losing me here. It might be the accent, but you are in a balancing act that needs to be adjusted, if I read you right. Let me warn you that your bees may swarm if the conditions of overcrowding are meet. And it seems that may happen in the above configuration if you cramp her and leave her in one box. It may happen with two if you are having a good year. I would expect a swarm from your hive and hope you have another box ready when it does happen. At this point I live for swarms, but next soon I will learn to do a split and avoid swarming.

[Ross]

I put mine on the top shelf in the garage.

[BaconStreetBees]

It seems that your configuration may have led to an abnormal distribution of honey, pollen and brood. The brood boxes should be two deeps or three mediums. If you choose to use a queen excluder, it would go above these and under any honey supers you have.
I agree that you need to let them have more space or they will swarm. The normal pattern is for the middle frames to have mostly brood with some pollen then some honey. The outside frames should be mostly honey and pollen.
Finally, drones cannot get through the queen excluder. They either had to be there when you put the excluder in or there was drone brood above the excluder. Otherwise, there must be some entrance that they are using to get in. Coming into your summer, remember to provide enough ventilation.

[Swobee]

I put mine on the top shelf in the garage.

Ditto! Only mine are somewhere... don't know where at the moment, but somewhere in the shed.

[Kiwi Will]

Thanks all. Maybe I can sit back and relax now while they fill up the 3rd (smaller) box up and then I will stack on the 4th when the 3rds half or more full. Thanks again guys.

[Swobee]

Off topic here, but...

My younger daughter spent most of four months in your beautiful country and city from May through August this year. She said even though it was winter time for NZ the country was very beautiful and she enjoyed meeting the people also. She brought dozens of wonderful photos of Christchurch scenery and many from the countryside also. Best luck with your bees this coming season as we wind ours down in North America. The flora options should keep your bees very busy.