I have kept a TBH for two years now- mine is sized like three langstroth bodies placed side by side. (So I can give them langstroth frames of brood or food if needed.) It has been my experience that queen excluders are not neccesary in TBH's. A bar or two full of honey, placed where you wnt to end the brood nest has been all I have found necessary to keep the brood where I want it. If anything, I have found it necessary to place empty bars in the brood area to keep the bees from crowding the queen into too small an area. My bees keep the brood nest within a bar or two of the "Front" of the hive on their own. When winter approached I shifted the brood nest back a couple frames, and placed a couple more frames full of honey between the cluster and the front of the hive to increase the amount of honey surrounding the cluster, and to provide more barriers between them and the drafts. I don't know if this was actually necessary. Genetics does have something to do with a compact brood nest- my TBH bes are mongrels descended from Carniolan cross bees, Italians, and Buckfast. They are multicolored, with an odd cordovan showing up once in a while. This hive may be due for ruqueening, but so far they are surviving well, and since they build good comb, and have wintered successfully for two winters, I'll let this "Play" hive do its own thing unless they get mean. Ellen Anglin In Michigan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com