# Make a nuc queen excluder



## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

I don't use queen excluders and have never bought one. I am thinking of using excluders to make quick splits vs looking for the queen. Will a plastic 10 frame queen excluder cut down easily to fit a 5 frame nuc? I know I can make one out of number 5 hardware cloth but hear it is rough on the bees...


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

Plastic excluders cut easily. I cut a stack of them using a table saw - just tape a band of tape around the middle and cut through the tape to minimize flying bits. You can also cut one at a time pretty easily using tin snips.

Adam


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Yes you could narrow it down easily but for temporary you can use it full width an let the excess stick out. Dont worry about being hard on the bees; it only has to be on for a short while for the purpose you are proposing.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

As near as I can tell, all queen excluders start out as 10-frame. This is at least true of the metal Brushy Mountain types I've been using. The 10-frames are the lowest cost per unit. The 8-frame ones cost slightly more, and if you look at them, one side has been cut. I have not found them for nucs, but I have one guess as to how they would be made.

I have a couple of full-sized ones on hand in case I need to make them for nucs, bought after one frisky queen decided to lay in the honey. A 10-frame is not quite wide enough to make two 5-frame excluders.


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## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

Phoebee said:


> A 10-frame is not quite wide enough to make two 5-frame excluders.


That is what I was wondering...

Here is a five frame kinda pricey...
https://gabees.com/product/m68-queen-excluder-5-frame-nuc/


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

You can half the 10 frame QE and then use a net partially cover the other
half of the nuc. Because it is partial half all the bees going into the 2nd box will need to
squeeze through the half QE. Good experiment to see if it will work. I only did this once for a
5 frame nuc though. An angle grinder should do this easily.


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

The brown plastic one cut down the middle works great--made two this year for a queen castle. Covered five frames easily. Our local bee guy is a Brushy Mountain distributor and that's who I bought these from.


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## schmism (Feb 7, 2009)

IMHO all these suggestions are pointless. a queen excluder only works when you are double (or more) stacking supers. why are you stacking nucs? and why in the WORLD are you stacking a queen castle. the whole point of the queen castle is to have very small areas for a queen to hatch, mate, and start laying. at that point she is moved to another hive. 

change your management practices so you arnt double stacking items that were never intended to be double or more stacked. Learn how to read the hive. a new split/package in a 10 frame box an experienced beek can find pull the frame the queen is on in one or 2 frames. 3 if the box is REALLY full of bees.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

schmism said:


> why are you stacking nucs?
> change your management practices so you arnt double stacking items that were never intended to be double or more stacked.


I stack nucs all the time. I've got a dozen doubles in the yard as I speak.
IMHO I don't need you to tell me to change my management practices. There are good reasons beekeepers do all sorts of things...and simply because you don't understand them, doesn't make it wrong.


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## chorrylan (Feb 20, 2016)

Yes the thin plastic excluders can be cut fairly easily on a table saw.
I've used excluders when splitting although have never bothered to cut one down to nuc-size yet.

I like to keep a few nucs around as spares or brood factories and if they reach 3 boxes in height and need more space will sometimes split them using an excluder.
eg I will fill one box with the brood and food I want for the nuc but shake/smoke off the bees in the process to ensure I do not have the queen.
Then place it on top of the other two boxes with an excluder in between and leave it for a few hours until it is full of nurse bees.

As I don't have access to a second yard I will usually put the new nuc in the original location so it also collects the bulk of the returning workers, especially if I don't have a cell or queen available for them; and move the old nuc and queen to one side.

This procedure uses an excluder and I suppose a nuc-sized one would be neater but as it's for a maximum of perhaps half a day; I've never felt the inclination to cut one down to size.


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## GoodyFarms (Jul 10, 2016)

schmism said:


> IMHO all these suggestions are pointless. why are you stacking nucs?


I also use multiple box nucs (5-Frame boxes) stacked up for several purposes (drawing out frames, holding queens, brood factories). I've also had good success overwintering them 3 deep high (15 deep frames) in zone 5A. I know several people here who do the same. 

There are many different ways that work, no need to judge. 

Regarding the OP's question, I've cut the brown plastic queen excluders using scissors for exactly your purpose. It may not provide as neat of a cut as using a table saw (probably best option) but it works fine. I've also taken the 100% metal excluders (not wood bound) and just used them as is. They don't look very nice (sticking out the side) but if your nucs aren't right up on each other it works.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

GoodyFarms said:


> I also use multiple box nucs (5-Frame boxes) stacked up for several purposes (drawing out frames, holding queens, brood factories). I've also had good success overwintering them 3 deep high (15 deep frames) in zone 5A. I know several people here who do the same.


The first pair of nuc bottom boards we bought had double-screen bottoms. I can think of only one reason for that: they were designed to stack the nucs.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Someone has not watch Michael Palmer's you tube vid about overwintering in
nucs yet. There is the production yard and the nucs yard. No need to rob each other out. So many
variation to use nucs to our advantage if you want to grow bees faster Just another part to manage bees more
efficiently.


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## SWM (Nov 17, 2009)

Yes, several ways to make your own. Rossman apiaries has 5 frame nuc excluders with cypress wood rims. That's where I got mine.


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## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

schmism said:


> IMHO all these suggestions are pointless. a queen excluder only works when you are double (or more) stacking supers. why are you stacking nucs? and why in the WORLD are you stacking a queen castle. the whole point of the queen castle is to have very small areas for a queen to hatch, mate, and start laying. at that point she is moved to another hive.
> 
> change your management practices so you arnt double stacking items that were never intended to be double or more stacked. Learn how to read the hive. a new split/package in a 10 frame box an experienced beek can find pull the frame the queen is on in one or 2 frames. 3 if the box is REALLY full of bees.


Really ..... open mouth and insert ------. Obviously you live in your own little bee world  Yea guess he has never heard of Palmers 4x4's... guess it went over your head:lookout:



Now back to the point. Thanks to those that made a legitimate response.... I stack nucs as doubles routinely and sometimes triples. I am not a good queen finder when I need to find her so I just wanted to cut a few excluders down to put up stairs with capped brood and queen below and assure she was in the bottom when making splits from these nucs. Yea I know lots of ways to split and look for cells or eggs etc but thought this may be quicker at times. So I was going to give it a try. When I need to find her she seems to see the new queen cages and hides well


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