queen excluders

[backyard warrior]

I am having a hard time deciding if i want to use queen excluders.  I thought that they were supposed to keep the brood out of the honey supers which is a good thing. Know i am hearing that they aren't good because they wont make as much honey. I am confused about what is best to use them or not to use them. I really don't want brood juice in my honey. I'm curious to what others say thanks

[AllenF]

Do you have drawn comb in your honey supers already?   If not, (new frames) then you can't use them, the bees will not go up, but if your frames in the honey super are drawn out, then you can use them.  I would not worry about brood in your honey frames.   You do have to take the honey if you see young brood.   You will hear all kinds of stories about using or not using them, but if you are really worried, then use them.

[Kathyp]

it's a personal preference thing.  if your comb is not drawn, then let the bees get well started on it before you put them on.  

i had no brood in any of my honey supers this year.  i didn't put the honey supers on until the bees had a band of honey over all their brood.  usually the queen does not cross the honey to lay.  some people use them with no problem but to me they are one extra bit of stuff to fuss with.  

[iddee]

If they have brood in the honey super, it isn't time to harvest. When they have it to spare, they will have only honey in the super.
Brood in the super tells me they need all the stores they have.

[hankdog1]

About the only thing i use an excluder for is if i get a queen laying up in the super.  I make sure she's back down in the brood chamber pop one on and prop the top ajar and let the brood hatch out.  But like what was said earlier different strokes for different folks really no right or wrong way with queen excluders just depends on what the bees like best.

[doak]

I still believe the size of the bees have a lot to do with how well they adapt to going through the mesh.
I cut my excluder down so the slot between  #1 and 2 and 9 and 10 frames are not covered. Cut about 2 inches off each end. The Queen seldom goes to those areas.

Some one needs to do a sticky on this subject JMO :)doak

[Michael Bush]

I don't use them except when I'm doing queen rearing or other complex manipulations.  I don't put them on production hives.

[VolunteerK9]

The only time I have used them is for settling a couple of swarms that I caught htis year. I placed it between the bottom board and hive body for a couple of days just to make sure that they didnt decide on a different living arrangement elsewhere. Other than that, I dont use them. I think they hinder more than they help.

[backyard warrior]

I am using them like hankdog just to get the queen back down so they store honey in the top supers i really dont want my medium supers with brood residue and darking of the comb just my preference.

[tecumseh]

well just let me say there is more than a bit of misinformation on this thread like this...

'now i am hearing that they aren't good because they wont make as much honey.'

or this...

'Do you have drawn comb in your honey supers already?   If not, (new frames) then you can't use them, the bees will not go up, but if your frames in the honey super are drawn out, then you can use them.'

tecumseh:
the + and - of using queen excluders are well know and well researched long ago by folks that were well recognized in the industry for a whole life time of commitment to beekeeping.  there work (published about 1985 in the ABJ) firmly establishes that you can enhance your honey crop and manage the brood nest by THE PROPER USE of a queen excluder.  If you set up a hive as described in the study then it will not matter one whit whether you have comb or frames + foundation above the queen excluder.  this setup can also highly impact swarming.... this is the study never promoted the set up a a swarm reduction process but it pretty much accomplishes this in addition to enhancing your honey crop.  another plus it make taking off the crop way too simple.   

[indypartridge]

Tecumseh is right: the question shouldn't be whether to use them or not, the question should be how to use them effectively.

More importantly, this isn't something you should "have a hard time deciding". It's not that big of a deal. Try them. Or not. Don't stress over it.

[Hethen57]

I'm using mine as a grate in my homemade decapping bin  :-D

[tecumseh]

as Heather somewhat suggest excluder can also be used (quite common in every commercial honey house I ever worked in) as an acceptable method of draining cappings.

[Shawn]

I have not used an excluder yet in the 4 years I have had hives.