queen excluder over winter

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buckfast

New Bee
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
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Location
Normandy
Hive Type
Dadant
Number of Hives
2
Please can someone explain why the queen excluder should be taken off over the wniter. One reason I have heard of is that the cluster might go to the top leaving the queen exposed - but there really isn,t much room on top of the frames and under the crown board, and surely the cluster stays in a ball anyway?

are there any other reasons?

There again I have read on this forum that you can feed fondant on top of the queen excluder, thus necessitating it staying put???

Can anyone advise

Buckfast
 
The taking the queen excluder off advice is to cover the situation when there is a super left on the colony and the queen excluder is sitting between the brood box and the super or supers. If there is no super then there is no queen excluder to remove - unless you have parked in top of the brood box under the crown board - in which case, as you say, it doesn't really get in the way and can do no harm - except the bees might spend their idle hours sticking wax to it which will all have to be scraped off in the Spring.
 
If you are using a single brood box Q excluder should come off with the supers.
Fondant can go above the crown board near the hole.
You might need to flatten the fondant into thin slabs to go into the roof space without using an empty super.
QE will be stuck with propolis and wax for sure if left directly above the brood area over winter.
 
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What about one explantion why QE should be there during winter?

A brood-box with a super full of stores. However, with a small colony the bees could move into the super, leaving the queen behind in the brood box.

You only need an excluder present if you are keeping the queen out of something. All-in-all, it is generally a bad idea in the winter.

Savoyard
 
as per rooftops - why leave the QE on under the CB after harvest and while feeding etc in autumn - presume it'll be well glued down now.

it's fine to store it under the roof ABOVE the crownboard.
 
as per rooftops - why leave the QE on under the CB after harvest and while feeding etc in autumn - presume it'll be well glued down now.

it's fine to store it under the roof ABOVE the crownboard.

Where if you haven't insulated properly or at all the water vapour would condense on the nice cold metal and drip down through the porter escape/feed holes if you'd left them open or just onto the crown board helping it go mildewy if you had....?
 
Fondant can go above the crown board near the hole.

Here we go again! Gaping holes left in crownboard over winter being advocated by some.

That 'some' may well get away with it but certainly not a good practice. Having a through-draught with a chimney effect, will at least, require lots more valuable stores to supply the thermal energy lost with that air flow throughout the winter, and at worst the demise of the colony.

Our poster is likely throwing away a quarter tonne of fondant equivalent each year, and likely much more.

OMFs and no top ventilation is the order of the day. And insulation over the crownboard is almost universally accepted as good practice.

Any crownboards I make (a 9mm square of ply) are not mutilated with holes of any description. I have enough feeder boards around, should I need some, but fed adequately (brood boxes filled) the bees will go through the worst part of the winter undisturbed, left in peace and given their best chance of over-wintering, short of taking the hive indoors somewhere!

RAB
 
A brood-box with a super full of stores. However, with a small colony the bees could move into the super, leaving the queen behind in the brood box.

You only need an excluder present if you are keeping the queen out of something. All-in-all, it is generally a bad idea in the winter.

Savoyard

Or conversely the cluster could be unwilling to leave the queen behind and stay below the QX and starve within sight of stores - It happened to someone I know last year - not a beginner by the way, just forgot to remove the QX
 
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OMFs and no top ventilation is the order of the day. And insulation over the crownboard is almost universally accepted as good practice.
RAB[/QUOTE]

Fine.

But I'm never quite sure if the matchsticks under the roof have to be spent ones or not. Wouldn't spent ones leave black marks on the hives? Is there a fire risk if they're not spent?

D
 
matchsticks under the roof

Who mentioned match sticks under the roof? My roofs are ventilated so match stick would be a waste of time.

Historically, bees were often burned out from their homes. Went with the location, I suppose.
 
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When you prepare the hive for winter, you must take the exqluder off.
Why you put it on for winter?

If the exqluer must be in the hive, put it under inner cover, please

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it's fine to store it under the roof ABOVE the crownboard.

Not so clever if the roof is not deep enough - as is often the case per your comment on another thread today!!! That makes it easier to blow off too of course.
 
Am i ok to take the queen excluders off in early Novemeber without any issues pleaee
 
yes you could have taken them off a lot earlier without any issues
Great ..thank you. We did realise back a few weeks ago that we should, but didnt because of the weather temp shift, and was concerned about going into the hives so late. The weather seems fairly mild these last days. Would the bees have any issues if we did this now. Have you heard of any problems ? . We are south wales area
 
Weather is a bit up and down but it will only get worse so get it done as soon as you can. Yes, they will probably object but it won't take you long and they need access to the combs. Look towards removing them when you take off the honey.
 
The taking the queen excluder off advice is to cover the situation when there is a super left on the colony and the queen excluder is sitting between the brood box and the super or supers. If there is no super then there is no queen excluder to remove - unless you have parked in top of the brood box under the crown board - in which case, as you say, it doesn't really get in the way and can do no harm - except the bees might spend their idle hours sticking wax to it which will all have to be scraped off in the Spring.
I take them off. The ones who leave them on justify it by saying it prevents the Queen from getting in a fast feeder and drowning!
also, when feeding fondant under the crown board it helps prevent it from sagging down between the frames .
 
Great ..thank you. We did realise back a few weeks ago that we should, but didnt because of the weather temp shift, and was concerned about going into the hives so late. The weather seems fairly mild these last days. Would the bees have any issues if we did this now. Have you heard of any problems ? . We are south wales area
You're going to be in there for a few seconds - it wouldn't really matter if it was raining really, just get it done
 

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