Funny thing is, I read this *after* I decided to try it. I have a breeder queen which I want to keep and her colony has been dwindling pretty steadily since fall. I had them over another colony, separated by the inner cover with the hole screened over. 

I finally decided to put a queen excl on the lower hive, and put the inner cover back on without the screen. I caged the queen, and plan to let her out if they seem to be getting along. 

I really don't want to lose this queen, but nor do I want to stick her into a full sized colony. 

PLB

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