Queen excluder
Encyclopedia
In beekeeping
, the queen excluder is a selective barrier inside the beehive
that allows worker bee
s but not the larger queens and drone
s to traverse the barrier.
The queen excluder is either a sheet of perforated metal or plastic or a wire grid in a frame. The openings are limited to 0.163 inch (0.41402 cm).
The intent of the queen excluder is to limit the queen's access to the honey super
s. If the queen lays eggs in the honey supers and a brood develops it is difficult to harvest a clean honey product and it makes fall management more difficult.
Queen excluders are removed in the autumn
; otherwise, the queen would not be able to move with the winter cluster
and would die from exposure. The death of the queen in winter would doom the hive unless the beekeeper
introduces a new queen in the spring.
Some beekeepers believe that queen excluders result in less efficient movement for workers bees, and therefore prefer not to use queen excluders, but rather to control the location of the queen by other methods.
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
, the queen excluder is a selective barrier inside the beehive
Beehive (beekeeping)
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young. Natural beehives are naturally occurring structures occupied by honeybee colonies, while domesticated honeybees live in man-made beehives, often in an apiary. These man-made...
that allows worker bee
Worker bee
A Worker bee is any female eusocial bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen, as well...
s but not the larger queens and drone
Drone (bee)
Drones are male honey bees. They develop from eggs that have not been fertilized, and they cannot sting, since the worker bee's stinger is a modified ovipositor .-Etymology:...
s to traverse the barrier.
The queen excluder is either a sheet of perforated metal or plastic or a wire grid in a frame. The openings are limited to 0.163 inch (0.41402 cm).
The intent of the queen excluder is to limit the queen's access to the honey super
Honey super
A honey super is a part of a commercial beehive that is used to collect honey. The most common variety is the super with a depth of 6⅝ inches in the length and width dimensions of a Langstroth hive....
s. If the queen lays eggs in the honey supers and a brood develops it is difficult to harvest a clean honey product and it makes fall management more difficult.
Queen excluders are removed in the autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
; otherwise, the queen would not be able to move with the winter cluster
Winter cluster
In beekeeping, a winter cluster is a well-defined cluster of honey bees that forms inside a beehive when the air temperature dips below 54 to 57 °F . Honey bees are but a few insects that survive the winter as a hive. As the outside air temperature decreases the winter cluster becomes tighter and...
and would die from exposure. The death of the queen in winter would doom the hive unless the beekeeper
Beekeeper
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...
introduces a new queen in the spring.
Some beekeepers believe that queen excluders result in less efficient movement for workers bees, and therefore prefer not to use queen excluders, but rather to control the location of the queen by other methods.