Queen Excluder

The primary functions of the queen excluder are to confine the queen and her brood and to store pollen in the brood nest. It is an optional piece of equipment and is used by fewer than half of beekeepers.

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Queen excluders are sometimes referred to as "honey excluders" because at times workers are reluctant to pass through the narrow openings of the excluder to store nectar in the supers above—especially if the combs are dry (contain no nectar or honey) and/or the super holds only foundation. This leads to congestion in the brood nest and encourages swarming.

To minimize this problem, allow the bees to begin storing nectar in the supers before installing the excluder. Nectar stored in drawn comb will entice the bees to pass through the excluder. Never put supers containing only foundation above a queen excluder. An excluder is constructed of a thin sheet of perforated metal or plastic with openings large enough for workers to pass through. Other designs consist of welded round-wire grills supported by wooden or metal frames.