{"id":6617,"date":"2021-11-29T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/?p=6617"},"modified":"2022-09-11T17:36:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T21:36:36","slug":"what-is-a-queen-excluder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/what-is-a-queen-excluder\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is A Queen Excluder?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated on September 11th, 2022<\/p>\n

In a Langstroth hive, a honey bee colony\u2019s explosive population growth in the spring leaves little room for honey in the brood boxes. The queen keeps brood in middle frames while honey is limited to some outer frames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When nectar is abundant, bees need additional space for honey production and storage. Thus, beekeepers add hive bodies with drawn comb above the brood nest as \u201choney supers.\u201d Preferring that supers contain only honey and not brood, many beekeepers restrict the queen\u2019s access to supers using a queen excluder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A queen excluder is a metal or plastic grill serving as a selective barrier between hive boxes. Gaps in the grill permit passage of worker bees but not the larger queen and drones. An excluder placed above the brood nest prevents the queen from accessing the honey supers to lay eggs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beekeepers differ in their opinions about whether to use queen excluders. Views vary based on individual experiences and observations. (Maybe it is bee colonies that have different ideas.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article discusses what is a queen excluder in detail to help you decide if they are suitable for your colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is A Queen Excluder?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plain and simple, a queen excluder is a grill with openings 0.163 \u2013 0.172 inches (4.14 \u2013 4.37 mm) wide. These openings are large enough for worker bees to pass through. However, queens and drones, which are much larger than workers, cannot pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping Brood Out Of Honey Supers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A queen excluder\u2019s function is to keep the queen from laying eggs in honey supers for several reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Mixing brood with honey is unsanitary and would ruin the harvested honey. Therefore, without the risk of brood in the honey supers, beekeepers freely remove supers for honey extraction.<\/li>
  • Removing bees from supers makes extraction easier. However, nurse bees can be reluctant to leave brood.<\/li>
  • Bees may store pollen (bee bread) around brood for feeding purposes. Therefore, keeping brood out of the supers also keeps out excess pollen.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Plastic Queen Excluder vs. Metal Queen Excluder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n

    Queen excluders come in three primary forms:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Molded plastic,<\/strong><\/li>
    • Wood bound (i.e., framed) metal, and<\/strong><\/li>
    • All-metal.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Molded plastic queen excluders is preferable to stamped plastic ones. Stamped plastic tends to have rough edges that can damage bees when passing through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Metal queen excluders are bound either with wood or metal framing. Wood framing is thicker, creating bee space and making the excluder more visible to the beekeeper.<\/p>\n\n\n

      \n

      Queen Excluder Comparisons<\/h3>\n Approximate cost is per unit as of 11\/27\/2021 without shipping or sales tax. Cost may be lowered by bulk purchases.<\/div>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n <\/colgroup>\n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
      Info<\/th>Plastic<\/th>All Metal<\/th>Wood Bound Metal<\/th><\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
      Material<\/td>Molded plastic (avoid stamped plastic)<\/td>Galvanized steel<\/td>Galvanized steel\/wood frame<\/td> <\/tr>\n
      Bees may<\/td>Propolize openings<\/td>Propolize openings<\/td>Add burr comb<\/td> <\/tr>\n
      Visibility to beekeeper<\/td>Low<\/td>Low<\/td>High<\/td> <\/tr>\n
      Cleaning<\/td>Freeze and flex to remove propolis or scrape with a plastic tool; avoid heating<\/td>Scrape with a tool<\/td>Scrape with a tool<\/td> <\/tr>\n
      Life span<\/td>Shortest; may sag or warp; susceptible to sun and heat damage; may be damaged by tools<\/td>Longest<\/td>Long life of grill; wood frame susceptible to damage<\/td> <\/tr>\n
      Approximate Cost<\/td>$5<\/td>$10<\/td>$18<\/td> <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n