Good or bad idea?

[gottabee]

I left my honey super stores on the aid the new hives I started this year. However, I did not know to remove the queen excluders. Unfortunately we had some moderately cold weather which killed two of my hives. When I found the dead balls of bees they were just below the excluder and a few workers were on the super honey frames.

Very good information posted here about removing the queen excluders and how it may affect the temperature of the colony. I believe the excluders may have contributed to the heat loss in the hive. Also I use a screened bottom board and have shimmed the cover to aid with moisture removal. Bees were otherwise healthy. I also worked two splits during the late fall and the queens never recovered. The hives expired from heat loss I am certain.

Next year I will follow Finskys advise and not use excluders.

[Finsky]

I left my honey super stores on the aid the new hives I started this year.

However, I did not know to remove the queen excluders. Unfortunately we had some moderately cold weather which killed two of my hives.

I suppose that only reason for lost oh hives is another than exluder.

When you have had exluder all the time, it has restricted brood area. When bee make winterball it is about size of brood area of late summer.

So basicly you have had too much roo for winter. That one box, where brood were, it is enough for winter.

So they put honey uppstairs, and perhaps they had some brood before  winter in downstairs. They had consumed honey from downstairs and when cold weather came, they were not able to  pick up from uppstairs.

And finally, if bees have raised to uppstairs, queen is not able to follow the ball. They surely forget the queen, because it is queen's job to follow bees.

SUMMARY
* too much room at autumn and for winter
* you should check  food stores before winter and give sugar if they need more
* mistakes teach effectively
* if someone does not make mistakes, he learns nothing.