Glossary
A metal or plastic grid with openings precisely sized to allow worker bees through (4.1 mm) but block the larger queen (and drones) from passing. Placed between brood boxes and honey supers, queen excluders prevent the queen from laying eggs in the honey storage area, ensuring clean, brood-free honey harvest.
Without a queen excluder, an ambitious queen may migrate upward into the honey supers and begin laying eggs in cells intended for honey storage. This creates a messy situation: frames with a mix of capped honey and capped brood, which cannot be extracted cleanly, are unusable for sale, and disrupt colony management. The queen excluder solves this by physically preventing the queen's larger thorax (5.2 to 5.5 mm) from passing through the grid openings (4.1 mm), while allowing the smaller workers (3.6 to 4.0 mm thorax) to pass freely between the brood nest and honey supers.
Many experienced beekeepers call queen excluders "honey excluders," arguing that the grid restricts worker bee movement enough to reduce honey storage efficiency. Workers may hesitate to cross the excluder, slowing honey deposition in the supers. Some beekeepers report 10 to 15% higher honey yields without excluders (accepting the risk of occasional brood in supers). Others find excluders indispensable for consistent, clean honey production and organized colony management.
If you use one: Place the excluder only after the colony is actively moving into the supers (put the excluder between the first and second super, or wait until bees have started drawing comb in the super before adding the excluder). This prevents reluctance to cross into empty supers. Metal excluders are generally preferred over plastic for durability and more precise spacing. Keep excluders clean and flat (warped excluders create gaps or excessive restriction). Remove during winter; leaving an excluder on risks trapping the queen below while the cluster moves upward through the hive following honey stores.
It depends on your management style and goals. For honey production where clean, brood-free frames are essential (especially for comb honey or retail jarred honey), a queen excluder is strongly recommended. For hobbyists who extract by crushing and straining and are less concerned about mixing minor amounts of brood, excluders are optional. There is no wrong answer; try both approaches and see which works for your operation.
No. Queen excluders do not injure bees. Workers pass through freely, though some may initially hesitate. Drones cannot pass through and will die below the excluder if trapped (this is rare and primarily a concern when excluders are left on during drone production season). The queen is not harmed by being confined to the brood area.
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