[phersbees]

my hive is two deep ten frame full of bees all drawn out. top hive is about 60%honey 25% brood maybe 15% other. (pollen drone empty). so I put a QE and a deep super with foundation sprayed with 2/1 sugar water. its been 9 days and not a bee past the excluder. The excluder is a wood and metal one and from a good vender.


should I shake some bees in it? maybe take out the excluder? or im I doing it wrong. bees will not take sugar water at all tried last two day tought it might make the start drawing comb

 

[LeonardS]

I would remove the excluder and leave it on the shelf to collect dust.......for ever!

 

[RayMarler]

Here is what I'd do. I'd put the frames of pollen and open larva with the queen in the bottom box, excluder over the bottom box, put the sealed brood frames in the next box up, and move up a couple frames of drawn comb frames into the new upper box in the center as I added it, moving a couple frames of foundation down into the second box in positions 3 and 8. That's just how I'd do it. A queen excluder over two deeps doesn't work so well for me. The bees would rather swarm as two boxes gives them enough room to be complete and so they can swarm, is how I figure it.

 

[dawsong]

Remove the Queen Excluder, Take partial drawn frame from another super or deep and put it in the 1st deep or super in the middle as as a bait frame an as soon as they start drawing on it put the Queen Excluder back on An Remove the Bait frame later.

 

[Acebird]

Remove the QE and pull up at least two solid honey frames from below. When you see them draw out the foundation, shake down the bees into the lower box and replace the QE if you want to.

 

[Michael Bush]

I would put the QE away and not use it, but if you insist, then remove it until they start drawing the comb in the super.


http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#excluders
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesulbn.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm#excluder

 

[BernhardHeuvel]

Same old, same old. :roll:

...

The way to go.

 

[phersbees]

I would put the QE away and not use it, but if you insist, then remove it until they start drawing the comb in the super.

Its looks like they tried to propolis it shut. all the metal had propolis and burr comb all over it. amazing how fast they fill it up. I took it out put the box back and bee started going into box before I got lid on. Did they see the QE as a road block?

 

[Michael Bush]

>Did they see the QE as a road block?

Unless there is drawn comb on the other side, they almost always do.

 

[iivydriff]

Throw that QE in the shed. And pull it out only for confining a queen to a lower box for raising queens or for maybe use it as a queen includer when hiving a swarm.

 

[Roland]

Listen to Ray Marler.

Crazy Roland

 

[Mr.Beeman]

I use queen excluders all the time.... as shelves in my honey heater.

 

[Beeonefarms]

Ahh joy one more lego set for me to buy for the fall beeseason

 

[karenarnett]

My understanding about drawing comb is that they'll only draw out comb for the brood nest. Times past when I knew less (as if I know anything now!) and put foundation or empty frames up above, they did nothing with it.

 

[Andrew Dewey]

I've never known bees to draw or even venture onto foundation above a queen excluder.

 

[dawsong]

Like I said before leave the QE off and bait them into the super with wire comb or foundation with a open partially drawn comb, Then put QE back on . an they will fill it up. When its just about full take it off put another empty with foundation on an put that super back on top super will fill up and they will start bottom super as long as you have a good honey flow. keep full supers on top which makes them easy to take off. Been doing it this way for about 60 yrs.

 

[EastSideBuzz]

I would remove the excluder and leave it on the shelf to collect dust.......for ever!

Ditto. They cause more issues then not.

 

[snl]

They cause more issues then not.

When used incorrectly, I concur....

 

[Roland]

C'mon you guys. We routinely get bees to cross an excluder and draw out basswood comb honey sections, which are less liked than new frames of foundation. Maybe we are just doing something wrong,,,,,

Crazy Roland
Linden Apiary, est. 1852

 

[BernhardHeuvel]

My bees drew three supers of foundation until now and filled it with honey. Not too bad for this year. Past the queen excluder.

People seem to never learned the proper use of the queen excluder, are not using it and still claim it doesn't work. It is a very valuable beekeeping tool and properly used it saves a lot of time and produces good quality honey. Basic rule: Just have more honey supers on as brood boxes, since you want them bees to work in the supers not in the broodnest. The size of the broodnest is more or less fixed, since a queen cannot lay more eggs per day over the natural limit. While the size of the honey stores is unlimited. The flow is the only limit here.