Where should I put my queen excluder?

The queen excluder should be placed in the hive above the first honey super. This should happen in the early Spring. The queen will begin to migrate to the bottom brood box once it begins to warm up. Before placing the queen excluder in the hive, be sure to find the queen and make sure she is below the queen excluder.

Do you really need a queen excluder?

The usual purpose of a queen excluder is to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey supers. Until your bees draw out most of the frames in the brood boxes, you have no use for honey supers and, therefore, no use for a queen excluder.

Do queen excluders cause swarming?

The nurse bees will go through the excluder in order to care for the brood. However, if you use this method you have to periodically move brood into the upper box and give the queen new places to lay her eggs. If you don't manage the two boxes, overcrowding in the queen's box may induce swarming.

Will bees build comb above a queen excluder?

A beekeeper should make sure drawn comb is directly above the queen excluder with any foundation above that. Better for comb. Use of a queen excluder will almost certainly mean less honey production, but the main benefit of it is that the combs will remain light colored, because no young bees are reared in them.

Will a queen excluder prevent swarming?

Some beekeepers place a queen excluder under a brood box after hiving a captured swarm onto undrawn foundation. This helps prevent the colony from absconding while the bees draw some comb. After that the queen will start laying and the risk of the swarm disappearing is much reduced.

Using a Queen Excluder on Your Beehive - Should You?

Should I have 2 brood boxes?

With two brood boxes, there is enough space for your queen to lay as many eggs as she can. This means you won't need to check your hives as often. When using one brood box, there is only enough room to feed your broods sugar syrup in small increments. With two, you can give them larger amounts less often.

How do you get bees through the queen excluder?

But there are ways to entice your bees through the queen excluder. One way is to simply leave the excluder out of the hive until the bees have started to draw comb in two or three of the honey frames. Once they are “committed” to the project, you can usually add an excluder with good results.

Do queen excluders reduce honey?

Note: While many beekeepers claim that queen excluders result in reduced lifespans of worker bees and decreased honey production the evidence is anecdotal at best.

How much honey should be left in the hive for winter?

The exact amount depends on the winter temperatures in your area and how long your winter usually lasts. That being said, you should plan to leave 60 – 90 pounds of honey for your colony to survive winter. This is at least 8-10 full deep frames of honey that must be left on the hive.

Do you leave supers on over winter?

Yes, you can leave a honey super or several on the hive over Winter. In fact, most beekeepers do have a super or two designated for use by the bees. The size of the box designated as the “food super” for the bees varies from one beekeeper to another and from one region to another.

Do bees reuse brood comb?

If you know your bees died of starvation or cold, chances are it is safe to reuse brood combs that are in decent shape, even if they are moldy or have some dead adult bees still on them. Reusing combs with dead larvae in cells is risky.

Should I feed bees in winter?

The best food for feeding bees in the winter is, of course, the one they make for themselves: their own honey. Besides sugars, honey contains nutrients that keep the colony healthy, strong and better able to fight off parasites.

How long before you get honey from a new hive?

It will take a new beehive a minimum of 4 months to produce honey. A new colony may be producing an excess of honey within 4 months, but not necessarily enough for you to harvest. Practically speaking, your unlikely to harvest any honey from a new colony until its second season.

How long can you keep bees in a nuc?

You can leave a nuc screened up for quite a few days, I've gone as long as 5-6 days with no problem as long as they are in the shade or basement and kept cool, the dark of a basement would be best if you want to move them there.

When should you close your hive for winter?

I always wrap hives, but I wait until mid-October when I know there will be no more hot days for the year. Be aware that brief periods of cold weather will not harm the bees, so even if the weather drops down well below freezing before the hives are wrapped the bees will be fine.

How many times a year do you harvest honey?

In a healthy, productive hive, it is normal to be able to harvest honey two to three times each season. Most beekeepers will harvest honey between June and September, but how often you harvest and how much honey you get will depend on a number of factors.

Why is my hive bearding?

Bearding is a sign of a strong colony and good health. It means that your bee population is considerable and perhaps, prepared for winter. They are keeping the honey at the correct temperature by pushing air into the hive to control the internal temperature. There are variances in bearding and swarming.

When should I put a honey super on?

The ideal time to add a super is during periods of natural population growth (typically, the spring), before or during a honey flow (spring or summer), or during periods of swarming (again, typically the spring). Before adding a super, beekeepers often use a standard rule of thumb, which is known as the 7/10 rule.

Can I use a brood box as a super?

The bottom level is the structure, and the additional levels become part of the superstructure. The same is true in a beehive. The base (or structure) is almost always the brood box. Therefore, every additional box that is added is referred to as a super, because it forms part of the superstructure.

Do you need a queen excluder in a horizontal hive?

First, the inner covers are to be considered. When the two-queen horizontal hive is in use, the queens must be separated by a queen excluder. The queen excluder separates the two queens while allowing the workers from both colonies into supers above.

How close can you put beehives together?

You can space a pair of hives as close to six inches from each other, but you need several feet of space around one or two sides in order to move equipment around as you're working the hives. Know what predators (man or beast) are in your area and what protection your bees will need.