Queen Excluders

You can purchase plastic, wooden or metal queen excluders and every beekeeper has their own preference for different reasons so I’m going to share my experience.

Plastic:

Was great initially however over time they warp with the heat, they are very tedious to clean and I constantly find dead bees that have died whilst trying to squeezy through the holes. I know some beekeepers who uses them for a few seasons before replacing them with new ones but this doesn’t really suit my personal beliefs around recycling and reusing which is why I choose metal over plastic.

Plastic queen excluder that has warped over time

Wooden:

I once purchased a wooden excluder as I felt that it would be the most natural element to separate the brood box from the super. Visually it was beautiful, fit the hive great and the girls appeared to like it, the small wooden dowels providing smooth edges for the girls to slip through with ease however I don’t think it even lasted one whole season. The dowels broke when I removed the excluder from the brood box because the bees had secured it so well with wax, we had an unusual wet season and mold easily attached itself to the exposed edges and treating it was out of the question.

Metal:

Is my go-to for queen excluders, yes it is more expensive, however I’ve found that the bees can slip through the slats with minimal injury, they are much easier to clean and remove wax as you can just heat it with a blow torch and scrap off the wax, they are more durable and store easier.