Queen excluder& Accessories

A queen excluder works by exploiting the size difference between worker bees and the queen. The gaps in the excluder are typically between 4.1 and 4.4 millimeters, allowing worker bees to pass through but preventing the larger queen from entering the honey supers. This ensures that the honey supers remain free of brood and contain only honey.

The advantages of using a queen excluder include ease of management by keeping the queen out of the honey supers, which simplifies honey extraction and inspection. It also improves queen locating by confining the queen to specific areas, making monitoring and managing her more straightforward. Additionally, it helps in colony control by managing the size and temperament of the colony, and in pest control by preventing egg laying in the honey frames, which reduces the attraction of wax moths.

A queen excluder is used in honey harvesting, propolis production, royal jelly production, and forming multi-queen colonies. It prevents the queen from entering the honey storage area above the brood chamber, ensuring she lays eggs only in the brood chamber.

The main types of beekeeping queen excluders include wooden, plastic, and metal excluders. Wooden excluders are made from eco-friendly fir wood and bamboo, plastic excluders are durable and compatible with various hive sizes, and metal excluders are known for their durability and effectiveness in controlling colony behavior.

Using a queen excluder makes it easier for beekeepers to manage hives by allowing them to harvest honey without worrying about drone brood in the honey supers. It also simplifies brood nest inspections by limiting the queen to the lower brood boxes, making it easier to find her. Additionally, queen excluders help control the colony's population and defensiveness, especially in Africanized zones, and may assist in managing varroa mite populations by reducing brood size.