When to Add Queen Excluder?

The queen excluder should be placed in the hive above the first honey super. This should happen in the early Spring. The queen will begin to migrate to the bottom brood box once it begins to warm up. Before placing the queen excluder in the hive, be sure to find the queen and make sure she is below the queen excluder.

Should you use a queen excluder?

The usual purpose of a queen excluder is to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey supers. Until your bees draw out most of the frames in the brood boxes, you have no use for honey supers and, therefore, no use for a queen excluder. ... So before using an excluder, always make sure it is in good shape.

What is the purpose of queen excluder?

Purpose. The intent of the queen excluder is to limit the queen's access to the honey supers. If the queen lays eggs in the honey supers and a brood develops in them it is difficult to harvest clean honey. It makes fall management more difficult.