>What is the current thought on the use of queen excluders.  I hived a package
>this spring and seem to have a good strong colony and am hoping to get a
>little
>honey from the goldenrod bloom this fall.  I put a super on prematurely this
>summer with a queen excluder and nothing happened.  There were a few bees
>above
>the excluder, but no drawn comb.  Only some foundation wax had bee eaten or
>moved.
>   When I add a super for the goldenrod bloom.  Should I use an excluder?
>
>Mick Youther
>In the Beautiful Shawnee Hills
>of Southern Illinois
 
 
You made the classic error that I made and so do many new beekeepers.  You
never put a queen excluder under foundation.  Never!  As you found out, the
bees don't like it.  You must put the new foundation on directly, let it be
drawn out, and when most of the 10 frames are drawn, and have some honey in
them, put on the excluder, between this new box and the brood chambers.
 
If you do it the way you did, you may even get a very crowded hive leading
to swarming, and lose most of your bees.  You can put a box of new
foundation on top of the drawn comb that has the queen exluder under it.
I.E.:  do as I pointed out above, then when you have put in the queen
exlcuder, add a box of foundation on top of the drawn box.  The bees will
accept that.   Some beekeepers may suggest that you try to get around this
problem by moving some of the combs from the brood chamber into the new
chamber and mixing up the frames.  Might work in a strong honey flow, but I
recommend leaving well enough alone.
 
So remember this, its only a problem when you are trying to get new comb
drawn on new foundation.  Next year, if you are reusing the drawn comb from
this year, you can put the excluder in right away.
 
Bill Fernihough  HONEY is sweeter then wine.