They all violate beespace.
The unbound ones (plastic or metal) are too little space and get propolized to both sides but mostly to the top bars below. When you peal the plastic ones off a lot of bees take to the air. When you pry the metal ones off there is less disruptions and bees in the air.
The bound ones have too much beespace and get burred. The burring is easier to break than the propolis is. I like the bound ones the best. But then I don't use excluders much at all anymore.
Another up side of the bound ones, is you're less likely to forget and leave one on going into winter because you can SEE it from the outside. Especially if you paint them some bright noticable color (Jim Fischers ideaa). Leaving an excluder on around here usually results in a dead queen when the bees move up into the box above and leave the queen behind.
If you want to use it as a queen "discourager" by turning it 90 degrees you want an unbound one, but then you can see it sticking out and it doesn't discourage the bees so much from working the super above but it discourages the queen from moving up.
The unbound ones (plastic or metal) are too little space and get propolized to both sides but mostly to the top bars below. When you peal the plastic ones off a lot of bees take to the air. When you pry the metal ones off there is less disruptions and bees in the air.
The bound ones have too much beespace and get burred. The burring is easier to break than the propolis is. I like the bound ones the best. But then I don't use excluders much at all anymore.
Another up side of the bound ones, is you're less likely to forget and leave one on going into winter because you can SEE it from the outside. Especially if you paint them some bright noticable color (Jim Fischers ideaa). Leaving an excluder on around here usually results in a dead queen when the bees move up into the box above and leave the queen behind.
If you want to use it as a queen "discourager" by turning it 90 degrees you want an unbound one, but then you can see it sticking out and it doesn't discourage the bees so much from working the super above but it discourages the queen from moving up.
