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Queen Excluder pros and cons

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  NoWIBeek 
#1 ·
What do you think a queen excluder does to workers that pass through?

A shortish explanation... I have read a few statements all over the web about how a queen excluder is not good for workers passing through (wing, leg and other damage). I am only using an excluder for what I believe is not the intended use. I am just excluding the queen for twenty one days from an area of her hive to be sure all or most of the brood in that area have emerged. I'm not concerned about what the workers ultimately do with the four frames that were installed as a nuc. The queen and workers are currently building comb and hopefully laying eggs on the top bars in my transition hive. The top bars, once we are past twenty one days, will be transferred to a top bar hive.

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#2 ·
The new plastic or metal excluders don't seem to damage the bees in my opinion. If managed properly they are not a barrier and do not cut production that I can decern. They do stop selected queens from laying five or six boxes high in the stack and eliminates that mess. If you are putting on an extra box while the bees are drawing the first one, is counter productive in many ways. Bees work wax best at high temperature which they have to create in the buildup stage. Do not put on that extra room until the bees are actively working on eight of ten frames of foundation. Then move a brood frame up/sans bees above the excluder to get the bees working past the barrier. Good luck.
 
#3 ·
In regards to creating heat to draw wax, I know they are serious about drawing out a super of cut comb when I start to take the inner cover off and every space is packed with bees. I just set it back down as there is no need to interrupt them.

Alex
 
#4 ·
Thanks Vance. I'm hoping that 21 days will not effect them much. I have the plastic queen excluder and the mesh seems very small to me, but, I guess they are OK. I will have to watch for dead bees as I don't think the excluded side gives the workers a chance to clean house. I can't see them pushing and tugging dead bees through the excluder.

I'm not using the excluder in the traditional way, so, adding boxes is not applicable. The excluder is there only to isolate the queen until the nuc frames have cycled through the brood that she laid in them. Eventually I will use those frames of comb in swarm traps.
 
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