[Bitteroot]

on both of my Lang hives. I have one deep and a super right now trying to build them up. Do you need an excluder or just let em work it out?

 

[Hortusrarus]

The short answer id let them build it out.

 

[Mike S]

I would let them build it and keep adding supers, you want more than 1 deep for your brood box anyway. I would give them 2 deeps or 1 deep 2 med for their brood box to build a good strong hive.

 

[Hambone]

I run all mediums and do not use excluders. During the spring build up she will lay in the 3rd medium for a while then when the strong flow hits they back fill the thrid medium and push her down to the lower two.

This is what I mostly see. I do have a couple that keep a bigger brood nest and continue to maintain brood in the third medium. I just let them decide what size brood nest they want.

 

[Hortusrarus]

Here is my longer answer, I had a couple of things to do before it got unbearably hot.

I use a modified two brood chamber system. My grandfather would use two brood chambers and no queen excluder. Meaning that at least every two weeks the brood chambers had to be "switched".

As well as locating the queen.

(Maybe that is why I do not take to long in doing basic chores. I added to supers, checked for eggs, and progress in the swarm colony. {They look great!} Then checked my large old colony for honey, removed an unused super and put on a bee escape to harvest the honey that they do have to spare.)

Anyway, in addition to the two brood chambers I have a deep super then a Queen excluder. This insures that the colony has a large brood nest to provide a good build up and a sufficient area for food stores to sustain them through the winter.

This is the first full season that my older hive has had it and they seem to be doing well. They got off to a slow start because of rain. This fall will be the true test of what they do on honey production.

 

[devdog108]

Down here we don't need double deeps. I run 3 meds and or a deep and a med for winter. depending on where you are in Sugar Valley...you may need two but not likely. Sometimes i wish i had an excluder, but i let them work it out...

 

[Hortusrarus]

devdog,
I am not that far north of you; We are less than two hours north of the Mall of Georgia. I like the two brood chambers for the space it provides the queen and the early build up. I am considering taking off the excluder and testing that method.

What is the SHB population in your area like?

Are you getting both Drone and worker brood in your honey supers or just Drone?

 

[devdog108]

I would take off the excluders. I havent had them lay in the supers unitl i had a laying worker hive a couple of months ago. If she decided to go up into the super, then I let her, as i figure she has a reason, but i havent seen too much capped brood up there.

SHB's seem a little worse here this year, but then again, i got some Nucs that had them. Haven't seen but a couple of larvae and they were wax moths. I keep the hives very strong and do not give them too much room for the SHB, Full Sun and they handle them on their own. No traps, nothing so far!

 

[Hortusrarus]

devdog, sounds good!
I am probably going to take off the excluders if nothing else to make my life easier. I got used to having them working with someone else.

 

[NasalSponge]

Personally I would be running two deeps or the equivalency there of no matter where I lived. Why limit the brood chamber?
The old logic was when a queen lays in your super it darkens the comb and in turn your honey. Thus the queen excluder was born. But bees don't like excluders and will consider them a barrier unless coaxed or there is a good flow on. So each must decide which way to go, neither actually hurt anything. IMO

 

[Ethfol]

Personally I would be running two deeps or the equivalency there of no matter where I lived. Why limit the brood chamber?
The old logic was when a queen lays in your super it darkens the comb and in turn your honey. Thus the queen excluder was born. But bees don't like excluders and will consider them a barrier unless coaxed or there is a good flow on. So each must decide which way to go, neither actually hurt anything. IMO

The bee's actually do not consider it a barrier. They will move through it WHEN THEY HAVE THE NEED. They like to have honey a pollen right near the brood nest and will put it there until there is no need and then they will move up, if they have something to put up there.

 

[devdog108]

Personally I would be running two deeps or the equivalency there of no matter where I lived. Why limit the brood chamber?
So each must decide which way to go, neither actually hurt anything. IMO

I don't limit the brood chamber and as a matter of fact, they actually decide what the chamber is as I do not run an excluder. Here where i live we don't get really cold albeit we do have cold snaps and to me, in my opinion, double deeps is overkill although i wont restrict where she goes, I let them handle that on their own...but thats just me