What's your opinion?  Last year on the advice of a friend with many years
of experience, I supered over my double-deep brood nests without excluders.
I was concerned that the queen would just "chimney," bringing the brood
nest right up into the supers.  Well, some did, into the first super
anyway.  By the time the second super went on the honey had started to
accumulate in the top of the first super (6 5/8") so the queen went no
higher.  Then later in the season the brood was "pushed" back down all the
way by the main honey flows.  The occasional colony was slow in achieving
this.  Interestingly, construction of swarm cells was very low while
following this method. (Don't know whether to attribute it to this.)
 
I have found that by and large, British authorities tend to consider the
excluder under the supers essential, while some German writers expound the
benefits of letting the brood go up into the third story and letting the
honey-pressure force the brood back down later.  They seem to hold to the
idea that the excluder causes unnecessary congestion, and that the bees
work much more efficiently without it ("Einsamwirkung" I think is how they
refer to it.)  These German apiarists then harvest the 3rd chamber formerly
used for brood when it becomes full of honey, also removing full honey
frames from the sides of the 2nd brood box.  They don't appear to be
concerned with harvesting honey from the darkened combs, while most British
authors I've read prefer to keep extracting combs clean and light colored
exclusively.
 
I guess a practical concern is that with prolific (very Italianized) stocks
the brooding is so heavy throughout the season that the brood might not get
"pushed down" out of the first supers before harvest.  It is distressing to
find capped brood in frames you're about to uncap and extract.  Do readers
consider the excluder as an unnecessary barrier or standard equipment, and
where do you position it (above one or two brood chambers)?
Ideas or comments greatly appreciated  --    Joel Govostes;  Freeville, NY,
where we still get buckwheat!