Bees not crossing the queen excluder

[kittietrixie]

As somebody new to beekeeping this year, I bought a full colony and had to shake them into my own national hive. I did all the things required to care for the shaken colony. The brood chamber is dynamic and has been for the last two weeks - lots of brood, eggs, stores, pollen and nectar. I placed a super on the hive last week with a queen excluder between it and the brood box. I inspected today and even though the brood box was absolutely full to capacity, none of the foundation in the super had been drawn. In fact, there were only a couple of bees in the super when I opened it. I have now removed the queen excluder in the hope that this will open things up for the bees. My question - should I have had to remove the queen excluder as the frames in the super will not be extractable if the queen lays there? Do bees not pass through the excluder ever? Any advice for what I should have done differently?

 

[MuswellMetro]

As somebody new to beekeeping this year, I bought a full colony and had to shake them into my own national hive. I did all the things required to care for the shaken colony. The brood chamber is dynamic and has been for the last two weeks - lots of brood, eggs, stores, pollen and nectar. I placed a super on the hive last week with a queen excluder between it and the brood box. I inspected today and even though the brood box was absolutely full to capacity, none of the foundation in the super had been drawn. In fact, there were only a couple of bees in the super when I opened it. I have now removed the queen excluder in the hope that this will open things up for the bees. My question - should I have had to remove the queen excluder as the frames in the super will not be extractable if the queen lays there? Do bees not pass through the excluder ever? Any advice for what I should have done differently?

take the queen exclude off for two days then replace, checking the queen is still below,

if that does not work, take a blow drier and lightly reglaze the wax foundation and repeat the QE removal

is the QE a plastic one , what colour is it as some QE are defective and have been recalled


and "full to capaicity" what do you mean, full of bees, full of honey. full of brood

 

[psafloyd]

And, Kittietrixie, know this. Not only were my original QEs defective, but so were my replacement ones from Thorne's. Am awaiting steel replacements.

 

[666bees]

What colour are the defective plastic queen excluders please.

 

[Busybee123]

What colour are the defective plastic queen excluders please.

As I understand it the only defective plastic queen excluders are orange in colour. I was sent a replacement thin metal one (which I don't like because it has sharp edges).

 

[666bees]

Thanks , I have brought 3 new ones and these are orange. So will be contacting the local shop over them.

 

[psafloyd]

What colour are the defective plastic queen excluders please.

I also have teo of the White 'harmless' type, but they are defective. They simply cannot get through the gaps.

 

[666bees]

Having said this, I caught a swarm on Monday night and have placed a queen excludure above the floor so will check that they are getting in before taking them back. So appear to be getting in ok.

 

[Busybee123]

I also have teo of the White 'harmless' type, but they are defective. They simply cannot get through the gaps.

I have two of the white plastic ones as well, but I thought they were ok (have not used them yet). I'm confused!

 

[Midland Beek]

Yes, if your queen excluder was from Tornes, it might well be defective.

If not, try leaving the excluder out for a while and spraying the super foundation with sugar syrup.

 

[kittietrixie]

Thanks everybody for your advice and help. MusswelMetro - the hive is full of the entire range - eggs, larvae, bees, etc. The excluder is a metal version which has apparently been used by a beekeeper before me - it's a secondhand one which I cleaned thoroughly before using it. So, it's hard to say if it is defective but my bees certainly don't like it. I took it out yesterday so a check this evening as to progress should be interesting. More generally, it seems that the queen excluders are not without problems!

 

[MrB]

Kittietrixie, do you have any drawn comb in the super? even 1 frame will attract them up there!
if not try putting a couple of drops of lemon grass oil on the top bars of the super frames, that will also attract them up (it did with mine )

 

[kittietrixie]

Thanks everybody. Will check progress today as I took out the excluder yesterday. The brood box is jam packed with eggs, brood, stores, bees and pollen which is why I am stunned that the bees did not go up to the super space if for no other reason than congestion. Oddly, there were no queen cells present either so they must be fairly content with the cramped conditions. Anyway, they have more space now minus the excluder so hopefully they'll use it so the excluder can go back on today. Interesting that so many people have had problems with defective excluders though!

 

[kittietrixie]

Great idea re lemon grass to entice them up. Will do. Thank you.

 

[oliver90owner]

kittietrixie,

I am not saying this is why, but will suggest that if the flow has ceased, the bees will simply not draw unecessary comb. However hard you might try.

If the brood box is fully occupied by all and sundry a sure-fire method would be to feed 2:1 syrup - just as in autumn feeding. They would almost invariably fill the hive with the stuff if you gave them enough. However that is not what you want, so if it is a case of a contracting need for space in the hive you are fighting a losing battle - they will go up as and when they need the space.

They are much more likely to move stores from below than her laying above if they are given the choice, so the Q/E off for a short while is fairly safe. If she were to lay in the super - so what? Replace the Q/E and wait 3 weeks; end of problem. Remember though, a super frame which has had brood in it is far more tasty to wax moth when in storage!

Regards, RAB

 

[kittietrixie]

Thanks RAB. I replaced the QE today and am now away for a week so when I return to inspect this time next week, well, it could be interesting! In the 24 hours since removing the QE yesterday, they had started drawing out the foundation in the super, so hopefully they will keep up the good work now! The wax moth problem and the fact of having larvae in the comb supposed to be for extraction were what worried me and made me consider the real value of the QE - hopefully just a blip!

 

[MuswellMetro]

Thanks RAB. I replaced the QE today and am now away for a week so when I return to inspect this time next week, well, it could be interesting! In the 24 hours since removing the QE yesterday, they had started drawing out the foundation in the super, so hopefully they will keep up the good work now! The wax moth problem and the fact of having larvae in the comb supposed to be for extraction were what worried me and made me consider the real value of the QE - hopefully just a blip!

the bees move honey in and out of brood cells and the supers, it is all over the place, does a small amount of cocoons wax cells matter NO,, do you get crunchy honey NO, do you get dead bees ,bee legs and wax moth dropping in the honey when extracting pure super honey YES

dont worry, KISS