Glossary
A balanced examination of the ongoing debate about queen excluders, the metal or plastic grids placed between the brood box and honey supers that allow worker bees to pass through but prevent the larger queen from moving up and laying eggs in the honey supers.
Proponents argue that queen excluders keep brood out of the honey supers, producing clean, brood-free honey frames for extraction. Without an excluder, the queen may move up into supers and lay eggs in honey frames, creating frames that are part honey and part brood, complicating harvest.
For new beekeepers, an excluder provides predictability: the queen stays in the brood box, brood stays below, and honey supers contain only honey. This simplifies management decisions and makes honey harvest straightforward.
Critics call the excluder a honey excluder because some evidence suggests bees are reluctant to pass through the wire grid, potentially reducing honey storage in the supers. The hesitation is more pronounced with newly drawn comb above the excluder versus comb that already has drawn cells and a honey scent.
Experienced beekeepers who eliminate the excluder argue that a properly managed queen naturally stays in the brood nest and does not move up into honey supers once they are above the brood nest. The queen prefers to lay in the warm center of the colony, which is in the brood boxes.
The evidence is mixed. Some studies show modest reductions in honey stored above excluders (5-10 percent), while others show no significant difference. Any reduction likely comes from reduced bee traffic through the grid rather than actual exclusion. Well-established supers with drawn comb minimize any hesitation effect.
Sometimes, especially if the colony is crowded and the brood nest is expanded. In practice, a queen with ample brood space below typically does not venture up into honey supers. Providing adequate brood space is the primary prevention.
Metal bound excluders with properly spaced wires (0.163-0.166 inches) are the most durable and least likely to damage bee wings. Plastic excluders are cheaper but can warp. The bee space above and below the excluder must be correct (3/8 inch) to prevent bees from building burr comb on the grid.
Keep Learning
Browse hundreds of terms covering honey, beekeeping, and natural skincare.