I'm in SW Ohio. I've not worked with queen excluders before and am using them on some hives this year as a trial - but am not sure if I'm packing the bees in too much if they only get three medium boxes for brood space. I am not using deeps much because I prefer having interchangeable boxes in my hives - easier with all one size. Should I give four mediums or just keep opening the brood nest and pull a portion of the capped brood up above the QE, to make sure they don't get too jam packed below?
I know this really depends upon location, climate, type of bees, etc. So even though there aren't any hard and fast answers, just would like to hear people's experience with number of boxes left below a QE.
thanks for feedback/opinions.