> 1. How did the queen get above the excluder?.

Tom -

I had a similar quandary last year.  One of my hives had a super full of brood -
which I didn't realize until I was in the process of extracting.  I went back to the
colony (the same day) and found brood below the excluder as well.  I examined the
colony and could find only one queen and no obvious problems in the excluder.  I had
used a blower to remove the bees from the super so if a second queen were above the
excluder, she would have been blown in the area in front of the hive.  I still don't
know what happened, but considered the possibilities that the queen may have entered
the supers from the top.  I have on occasion seen a queen on the outside of the
hive, and I do leave my telescoping covers ajar to promote circulation.

I planned to watch this colony more closely this year, but it swarmed.  I captured
the swarm and hived it, but it seems likely that that original (adventuresome?)
queen has been deposed.

Just one of the many things I can't explain about beekeeping.

Larry Krengel
Marengo, IL  USA