# Queen excluder



## bjverano (Jun 18, 2014)

Has anyone ever used a queen excluder in a Warre? I know it's not by the Warre Way " (I read the book) but wonder if anone has ever used one. I really like my Warre- they swarmed today and were caught and put in a Langstroth - I was at work and not at home. 
Awe shucks! I have an empty Warre I could have put them in. At least I still have the bees. There's still a lot of bees left in my Warre though. It's a strong docile hive so I would have really liked to get another Warre started with this colony. They may swarm again though- I think there will be an after swarm for these girls. The back of the hive was covered with bees even after the swarm left. I'll get the other Warre set up tomorrow since I'm off work. They have plenty of room too. I added 2 extra boxes. Oh well, at least it broke up the brood pattern so will cut down on mites. I've always had a minimal mite count with this hive. This is my favorite hive. The rest are Langstroths. 
So back to my original thread question- comments about queen excluders appreciated. 
Thanks. BJ


----------



## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I'm not a fan of queen excluders, and I don't have a Warre hive, but it sounds as though you think a QeX might prevent swarming, which I believe isn't true. Queens on their way out the door in a swarm, especially virgin queens in cast swarms, are usually slim enough to get through an excluder, but drones aren't which can create a messy and disturbing traffic jam of desperate bees caught inside.

A queen excluder used to keep a laying queen out of honey super (if that's your goal) works well enough for that purpose. But as a queen _retainer_ (including those similar devices placed on the entrances) to keep a queen inside a hive in order to try and prevent a swarm, I think it's just plain trouble.

Better swarm control can be done (even in Warre hives) using the technique of Opening the Side of the Brood Nest. Not sure how the other two I use (Reversing and Checkerboarding) would work in a Warre, however. I also have Snelgrove boards at the ready if I see extensive swarm preps underway. You could easily get a Snelgrove board made in Warre hive dimensions.

If the swarm has only been in a Lang for a day or so, I bet you could switch them over to a Warre pretty easily, particularly if you could give them a frame/comb with some open brood from another Warre to use as an anchor. On the upside, any colony after a swarm is a comb-making machine so you're likely to get an astounding amount of freshly-drawn comb in the next month or so. 

Enj.


----------



## bjverano (Jun 18, 2014)

Enj,
Thanks for the response. My goal would be to keep the Q out of the supers. 3 of our Langs had brood in the top super this spring so we put an excluder on and added a super. I know that many Lang beeks reverse the hive bodies in spring so the Q will move back down- lots of opinions out there on that- we may try that next spring. 
I don't really care if my Warre swarms since the swarms stay close by -we have lots of trees they like to swarm onto so we've been able to catch them the past 2 years. I'm not concerned about honey production so I'm not trying to increase the size of that hive just maintain it. If they don't swarm and I end up with a big colony that's ok too. If they swarm they're doing a natural split for me. 
I agree that they can be moved into my empty Warre. I may do that. We've caught 4 swarms in the past 2 weeks - 3 are doing great- one left the second day. 
I'm not familiar with the Snelgrove board. I'll research that one. Great info. Thanks again !
BJ


----------



## jadebees (May 9, 2013)

Queen excluders work the same in a Warre, super a box during a flow, with an excluder, and bees do the same as in a Lang. Meaning, they put honey above.The bees wouldn't act any different. As others posted,it is Not a swarm control device in any way. But really works well with drawn comb.


----------



## bjverano (Jun 18, 2014)

The Warre swarmed again today and that swarm is now in a Warre. It was bigger than the swarm yesterday. I'm glad I was home this time so they were hived in the Warre. There's still plenty of bees left in the original hive. This was my lucky day. I'm really happy to have a second Warre.


----------



## bjverano (Jun 18, 2014)

Yea that's what I thought. I asked Beethinking if they had Warre Q excluders and got an email back explaining that they don't sell them because they are not used in a Warre. I get that they're traditional and that's ok but I'm not. I bought my Warre's from them 2 years ago and really like them. I got one of my Lang excluders and cut it to fit the Warre- easy to do-no problem. 
Thanks for responding. 
BJ


----------

