"As far as I know, and according to most commercial beekeepers that I
> know. Queen excluders are these days most often use by hobbyists and
> smaller operations."

Strange how some can live so close together and yet have totally
different views of the world:

I have been 'taught' how to use queen excluders for extracted honey by
commercial beekeepers.  I don't think most hobbyists know how to use
them.  We don't have a lot of commercial beekeepers in upstate NY, but
the following have taught me a lot about using queen excluders:

1.  Doan's, near Rochester.  4,000 hives.
2.  Finster, near Utica.  3,000 hives.

There are only a couple of other outfits the size of these in NY, and
I don't know what they do.  I do know of another two large operations
in Vermont who also would not think of running hives for extraction
without using excluders.

As someone else said on this thread, excluders are used to keep brood
out of supers to facilitate extraction.  In upstate NY we often have a
2-3 week summer period with little nectar flow, and then a large fall
flow.  During the summer dearth, bees will often consume honey in
supers and the queen will move up and lay in the available cells.
With a three-week window needed for brood to mature and the cells to
become available for nectar, the brood is often still there when
extracting commences.  This makes for a real mess in the honey house.

--
Lloyd Spear
Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections,
Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels.
Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com

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