>Norm, I am only a first year beekeeper myself, so understand that
>anything I say comes from very little experience.  However, I have heard
>that you should leave the excluder off until the bees have a good start
>on drawing out the comb.  Otherwise they will never pass through the
>excluder to start drawing it out.  Your message sounded like you put on
>the excluder when you added the super of undrawn foundation (is that
>correct?).  I dont know if this is the cause of your lack of honey, but
>something to think about anyway.  Replies from someone who has a bit
>more experience and knowledge would be appreciated.
 
I agree that this is the likely cause of bees not passing through the super.
You can encourage bees to move up by moving 2 frames of unsealed brood above
the excluder or if the frames are drawn and recently used the bees will come
up in search of storage space.  If the frames are dry or foundation the hive
frequently confines itself to the brood box, filling the frames with honey
so the laying space is limited and the population takes a nose-dive.
 
Betty McAdam
HOG BAY APIARY
Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
j.h. & e. mcadam<[log in to unmask]
http://kigateway.eastend.com.au/hogbay/hogbay1.htm