Blane writes:

>This issue could be answered once and for all in one season


With all due respect, this is one of those things that will *never* be answered, for the simple fact that bees deal with things like queen excluders and bottom supering, and frame size, etc. differently *depending of honey flow conditions* which vary from one locale to another and vary from one year to another.

By the way, I know two beekeepers in this area who have about 300 hives each. One uses queen excluders and doesn't wrap his hives. The other doesn't use queen excluders but wraps his hives with tar paper. They both make about the same amount of honey, I assure you.

My opinion, formed over almost 3 decades and by talking with hundreds of bee keepers, is: you have to find your own way that works.

pb