>>Is it possible that the thing that made the difference was the three deep broodnests and not the excluders?

Without a doubt, the 3 deeps was the primary reason for the very large crop.  Like you said, the more bees, the more honey [if they don't swarm first though!!].  Reading Wright and others, who have done comparisons, one gets less honey with the excluders for the good reasons they list.

From what I've read and observed, excluders cause the broodnest to get flooded with nectar which then leads to swarming.  I did have a much larger swarm issue with 2 deeps and excluders.  I've been raising very good, prolific queens.  With the excluders in place, the bees would always have the nest flooded with nectar and attempt to swarm throughout the season.  Even installing young queens would not stop them.  The crowding with the excluders in over 2 deeps may it impossible.

With the 3 deeps, as long as I managed to keep the nest from getting nectar flooded by providing overhead storage space, the bees would switch from swarm prep to nectar gathering.

>>I guess I would be more convinced if you compared three deep BN with excluders to 3 deep BN without...

I might do it if it were not for the fact that with 3 deeps you don't need an excluder to keep the queen out of the supers. :)  Like I said, she will go up into the supers but not lay in them.

The only use for excluders I now have in my operation is to separate queens in nuc colonies stocked on top of each other.  That they do very well especially if one doubles up.

>>Me, I have not noticed a difference with or without excluders, if one uses drawn comb.

Do you run 2 deeps and, if you don't exclude, do you end up with brood in the supers?

Waldemar

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