Queen getting through Excluder !!

[Jed D]

I've heard of it ' but never seen it...
What do I do with this one ?

15 Aug, Inspected hive and found capped brood only !!
So had a quick peek in some of the supers ,,,, and yes eggs and lavae...

AAARRG.....
Sure enough ,found her quite happy laying away..
So simply put her back downstairs.
( This did leave me wondering what I had done on my previous inspection.. )

29 Aug, Yep, shes back upstairs.......
I now have 3 supers with brood in the middle four frames !!!!!!

So yet again, I've put her back downstairs ' but this time changed the excluder and she's currently in a cage blocked with fondant..
( Shes in the cage as a temporary measure , so I can find her tommorrow )

My Plan tommorrow, after work is to... try and put all her brood in one super and place it under the brood box. Then place the other two supers full on Honey ( partly capped ) back on top..
I'm hoping this will concentrate the nurse bees back downstairs and at the sametime leave no laying space upstairs..
The super can stay underneath for the winter and I'll harvest any Honey , Treat & feed in the next couple of weeks....

So my Question is..... Does that make any sence or am I missing something ??? Other than a fat Queen....

 

[snelgrove]

Basically if you have a good excluder purchased from a reputable supplier then if the queen is getting through she is more than likely a scrub queen , not properly mated and can squeeze through the slots. Are there any slots or if a grid type damaged

 

[chrisb]

Humm, thought question was about what best to do with super of brood not if the Qe is crap or not

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

not necessarily a scrub or improperly mated - some queens are just small.

 

[snelgrove]

Humm, thought question was about what best to do with super of brood not if the Qe is crap or not

Queen gettingthrough excluder was the post title

 

[snelgrove]

not necessarily a scrub or improperly mated - some queens are just small.

Yes and no good

 

[Fatbee]

Sounds a sensible plan to me for dealing with brood in the shallow.

 

[Jed D]

All our Gear is from a well known company in Lincolnshire..
It was a wire excluder , so could be bent / damanged etc..
Just changed it anyway... This could sort it out..
Scrub / Dodgy Queen... No..
Mated end of June 2016 & very capable of laying 10 frames of brood..
Hence, I'd like to keep her..

Anyway back to the Question..

Quote ( Does the above plan make any sence or am I missing something ??? Other than a fat Queen )....

Honey Season is drawning to a close.. So I want to harvest, treat & feed by end of sept... So really don't want anymore brood upstairs...

Any other ideas ???

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes and no good

not necessarily - as is the case here by the looks of it

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Anyway back to the Question..

Quote ( Does the above plan make any sence or am I missing something ??? Other than a fat Queen )....

Honey Season is drawning to a close.. So I want to harvest, treat & feed by end of sept... So really don't want anymore brood upstairs...

Any other ideas ???

I think you're about right - as long as your colony is strong enough to cover the brood ten frames across, it's what I would do, and did in a similar situation last month (no way was she a scrub queen either, she's going like a train!) however, I left the shallow frames above the QX and madam below so they would backfill the frames as the brood emerged. Your choice really

 

[oliver90owner]

Changing the Q/E has likely solved the problem. Do wait and see. It is likely only a few more days to demonstrate likelihood or not of the Q/E being at fault. Thread is only really applicable if she goes upstairs again, as I see it.

Panicking, and jumping on the forum too hastily, I would suggest. Problem, if it is a problem, will reoccur if she is a small queen.

RAB

 

[Excession]

not necessarily a scrub or improperly mated - some queens are just small.

This.

One of my most productive queens was able to pass through the excluder, she was very long and beautiful, just a bit slender.
Still have her, I just got rid of the excluder

 

[philipm]

Been running most of my hives without an excluder all year. Yes the queen may lay in a couple of super frames but its no big deal.

 

[Millet]

Stick a little tie wrap around her waist,

 

[Finman]

.
I do not use excluders. What do I do then...

.

 

[philipm]

.
I do not use excluders. What do I do then...

.

Thing is your in it to make a living ,I know that I'll never make any money out of my hobby so a few spoilt super frames won't break the bank.

 

[Millet]

.
I do not use excluders. What do I do then...

.

Kill the queen , problem solved, then start breeding reindeer

 

[Finman]

Kill the queen , problem solved, then start breeding reindeer

Gimme a solution and invent a problem

 

[Poly Hive]

I have had queens who could slip through excluders and very good layers they were too.

I have had huge queens which were useless.

Judging a queen on size is not the way to go.

Being sizeist is prejudice.

PH

 

[Jed D]

Thanks Gents ...
Some good snippets in there..
As it was going to be an evening visit and involved juggling 30 shallow frames around in 3 supers,,, I twisted my good ladies arm into helping...

Between us we juggled 10 shallow frames of brood into one super
( some of which were full of capped brood from one side to the other ) GOOD QUEEN.
10 of these are now in a super, under the brood box.
Unfortunately there were 11 frames of brood in total , so there is also one frame above the brood box over the new excluder.
This was all capped and should hatch within the week...

Fingers crossed ! the two supers over the Q/E are nearly full , so no laying space upstairs..
The Queen was already out of the cage. ( within 24 hours ) ' but seemed to be happy enough mooching about.
I'm guessing she'll start laying again once the colony has settle down..
They do have some work to do setting the brood nest up again i.e.
Food stores etc.. Mostly just stored pollen in the brood frames..

Oliver , it would of been a good exercise , just to change the excluder ' but in truth , we've got four sites on the go at the moment and really want to start wrapping things up for the year ,,, if that possible !!!!
Still got twenty' ish supers out there..
Mr Jenkins Ref Bees covering brood..
This is something I hadn't thought about ' but we were both surprised just how many bees are in the colony , so its all looking good..