Queen excluder or honey excluder, comparing 4 queen excluders. 

As a newby trying to move from being a “beehaver” to a “beekeeper” I very much appreciate the clear explanation of an excluder in simple terms I can understand. I also now have a better explanation of foundation and comb. Beekeeping needs a dictionary!! :) Thank you again.

The best discussion of using queen excluders that I've heard in seven years of beekeeping. Thank you for the practical information.

Thank you for this fantastic explanation. Clean and concise. Thank you and may God bless you for sharing this with the internet!

Thank you !! By far best and most understandable queen excluder Visio out there !!!!

I’m waiting for someone to develop the ”queenless” hive, kinda like seedless watermelons. That would simplify beekeeping, lol.

Thank you for sharing. I'm new beekeeper in MA with my first overwintered colony.. I have been struggling with the Queen Excluder decision. This clears it up perfectly. TY

Another benefit of metal excluders over plastic, is that you can use your torch to clean up the wax and propolis

You are the only bee person that shows an example of exactly what you are talking about. For me, this is the best way to actually understand it fully. Great job.

Excellent practical beekeeping video. You’ve just gained a new fan/follower!

Thank you for educating me on excluders. Very informative and answered why I had problems with them my first year of bee keeping.

Great video Peter. I learned those lessons last year and had no problems with my Q excluder. I bought some Better Bee artificial drawn comb and used 2-3 in each super of foundation with no QE for 10 days and then put on the QE. One hive had a nice honey rim on the top box so I didn't use a QE and it worked well also but the two hives with a QE out produced the hive without a QE. Now with drawn comb to work with it should be easier.

I stopped right in the middle to tell you that you're the first to explain things that this noobie can understand. Most veteran beekeepers use so much jargon in their explanations that I don't know what they're talking about.

Very very nice !! more of that pls

Thank you for sharing a clear and honest review of some types of queen excluder you are truly awesome and helpful ^^

Thank you Peter. The information your providing is a great tool, for those of us just getting into beekeeping. I am looking forward to the overwintering hive sizes episode. Because I’m curious about single brood box overwintering management.

Great videos Peter. Thank you for taking your time and sharing your experience.

Good info, I have looked into beekeeping a few times, even started to build equipment. I thought if I do start to do all mediums and start with two hives. Have thought of double queen hives for stronger hives and faster buildup with a medium between brood chambers (target 2 mediums each) also to give a spare medium below the brood to equal the 2 deep for resources.

Thank you, I really did find it helpful, keep that good solid information coming and you will do well and I like the fact that you are biologist, let us in on some of your insights when possible. I think it is Randy Oliver that says if you want to be a good beekeeper learn bee biology. Once again thank you!

Good video. Thank you.

Very helpful !

I use Queem excluders

Very good overview of the subject, and that puts you in the company of Bob Binnie and Ian at Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog as far as good useful beekeeping resources!

ive noticed that most queen excluders lay directly on top of the frames of bees from the brood chamber which covers the holes where the frames come into contact below. The excluder needs to sit a little above giving more room from the bees to get through all the holes in the excluder.

Hi , interesting video thanks, all very informative, it can be a big debate for or against Queen excluders, I use them myself you mentioned the bees were building comb on the excluder with the wooden frame , in my opinion this is because it has been designed wrongly ie the one you showed has bee space on Both sides and when you have bottom bee space on a super you end up with doublebee space, I use wooden framed Queen excluders with bee space on one side only , and find little brace comb, regards john

Thank you for the very useful information!!!✅😁🏴‍☠️

Great video. Has given me thoughts for next year's spring start. Was already thinking of placing a super on top of my brood when the flow begins here in the UK. Use as brood and a half to begin with to give them space. Then after the Queens starting laying up in the super I shall introduce the QC. Your accent has thrown me??

Love this Chanel

If your plan is followed (start honey super without queen excluder then shake bees and add excluder late in the season) how will any drones get out of the honey super once they emerge as part of the brood that was laid prior to the excluder being installed? Drones are also too big to go through a queen excluder. I have heard you need to install an inner cover (on top of the honey super) that has a slot on the edge such that there is a second entrance (drone exit) however you never mentioned that.

Peter, thank you for the excellent information. Your videos have been the most helpful that I’ve found as a new beekeeper. Question: Once the honey super has been about half drawn around mid- to late-summer, would that also be a good time to shake all the bees down into a single deep, add a queen excluder above the bottom deep, and transition to single brood chamber management? I’m hoping to run one of my hives as a double brood chamber and one as a single brood chamber in order to determine which I prefer long-term.

A lot of people believe this and get very adamant about it. It comes down to people making the mistake you talk about when they start beekeeping. When people tell me queen excluders are honey excluders, I just smile and say it is a tool that is useful if used properly.

This is a perfect content 👌 👏

I can't wait to get my first hive

WOW! Interesting video. Thank you or sharing.

Newby here. Natural vs Small Frame Bees. The Queens! Are they a Smaller "Size" Bee, than the "Natural Bee"? That maybe the Excluders don't work with Small Frame Bee Queens? Seems a smaller bee "Small Frame Bee" would be a "Smaller Bee" vs a Natural Size Bee.. I have been wondering.. I had a swarm move into a box when I was not raising bees. I have nothing to compare them too. I don't know of anyone who raises bees around me.. These bees have lived on their own for 5 years now. No die outs in the winter, which was the reason I stopped keeping them. So, I am interested in making some queens from them and raising them. I lost 10 of 12 hives twice.

For me it’s burnt once twice shy. When I started beekeeping I listened to many so called indentured bee keepers who said negative things about excluders. My first year was a disaster with regards to how the medium supers had so much brood in them. Drone brood as well. What a mess. Super labour intensive come extraction time. Following that debacle Queen excluders are now the norm. Single brood box then add another brood chamber with excluder then super til August. Won’t swarm when they have room, supers have honey only, extracting is a breeze, honey frames stay clean.

Does it work if you just move a frame with brood above the excluder? and maybe use a deep as your first super?

great video , How to you clean your metal excluders ?

This is where I'm at. Beginner beekeeper and I added my supers to 2 hives 2 weeks ago, only foundation, and bees have done nothing albeit weather hasn't been great. Going to take queen excluder off for a couple weeks see if makes a difference. As long as we take add it back 4 weeks before harvest, presumably to allow any brood to hatch and leave cell by harvest time? Thanks

Nice video!! I would like to ask: 1) using plastic instead of a metal excluder, can it be easier to swarm the colony? 2) if I have put the excluder during the swarm period, and every week I inspect the brood nest and if it has 7-8 frames with brood, then I remove 2 of them and put them on top of the excluder, can this method prevent swarming? Thanks a lot

This is very helpful. I will try this for sure. Do you also suggest having a top entrance to the super to help out with bee traffic to the super? I hear a lot of beekeepers do this.

Thank you Sir. Shalom

ive put up some of my largest honey crops with queen excluders on. my bees have no problem drawning out new comb above an excluder. it really makes my management 100% easier. they make doing splits easier. almost everything beekeepers do a queen excluder can make it easier.

Is it true that the queen will not move up through a sper full of honey. If thats correct could you just have a super of stores to act as the excluder

1 or 2 brood chambers? I always see the pros with one but I thought about going with 2 so there is more stores for winter.

You never made clear what exactly is a honey excluder and how does it differ from a queen excluder

Have you noticed that the cracks seem to be fairly evenly spaced, this is caused by weld lines when the plastic was injected, they could have reduced the effect of weld lines by running the tool a little warmer and by increasing the packing cycle slightly. I am in warmer climes so I use metal excluders, but I can totally understand the need for plastic ones in cooler climates.

The plastics industry is realy making a rod for their own backs by using PP instead of HDPE, it is a cost cutting measure. It is possible to use UV30 PP or UV30 HDPE, and the life if the excluders would be extended many times over. Oh by the way I see in the background that you have some boxes in garbags, this does not work for me because argentine ants will find any flaw in the plastic and open it up, then when you open the bags it will be full of ants and corruption. It also makes the wax sweat and it stinks when exposed. I store my frames of honey and drawn frames in a coolroom, after freezing to kill any wax moth residue.

Am in Uganda and l prefer to use queen excluder where exactly can I get it from and how much is it

Humm, if you put a honey supper (BTW: you should have all deeps to standardize your apiary) without queen excluder you will have to deal with the queen, eggs and brood but what you want is honey. So what I do is to put 3 or 4 frames with brood in the honey supper so that the nurse bees will move up. But I can see why you don't recommend to do that, it is because you want to sell medium boxes and frames and the brook frames are deep and they don't fit in you medium box, hummm. Gotcha you !