A long Story.
Why queen excluder doesn't work well.
Some one got greedy and wanted bees to make more honey, so they came up with a way to cause the bees to make bigger bees. The foundation was made so the bees would grow bigger.
We have, most of us, noticed smaller bees in a ferrel swarm we have caught.
Notice next year they are bigger. A lot of you are trying to get them back to the small size.
Not with the intentions of being able to use the excluder, but you will be able to with the smaller bees.
With all the work that has been done to create and improve on equipment, some one some where forgot to figure in the bee space that is required. No wonder we're having problems.
Now I know why I find dead bees in the excluder, the bees are to big, and that is why we don't get good results from it.
I would say if some one has their bees regressed to the smallest they should be, there should be no trouble using the excluder.
Next item.
What we are doing wrong.
We, or at least I do, use the brood frames too long with out changing out the wax.
If you do not use chemicals there is still a build up of "bad stuff" in the wax comb after a few years, 2 or 3. The bees bring it in, from where, and things grow.
In the wild a colony of bees have been in a hollow tree for 4 or 5 years, O.K., a few start dieing off.
There is a meeting among the workers and they decide it is time to move on.
They get to work and build some swarm cells. They decide all the bees should leave but need to split up and make two or three new colonies out of what they have. They would be about the size of a bushel
basket if they were all in one swarm.
Why are they leaving, because in spite of all they have done in good house keeping, the comb has became contaminated, from "that stuff" that the bees have brought in from the big world they forage in.
It has became embedded in the wax and they have no way of getting it out.
So the day comes when it's time to go. About 1/3 of the colony leave with the mother queen, a few days later another 3rd of the bees swarm with a new queen. About a week later the rest leave with the last queen.
This evacuation has been planned for some time and the bees quit gathering food so there would not be anything left but the wax comb after they had left.
The bees haven't been gone a week when the wax moths come in and take care of the wax comb, other things come in and help,ants,etc. The old tree is sad and wants to give up the ghost, but doesn't.
It just stands there for two years wishing the little buzzers would come back and tickle its insides.
Then in April of the third year after the colony left a big swarm moves in and builds.
Their scout bees had came and inspected the hollow tree and found smell of previous bee occupation and it appeared the house was clean enough to take up house keeping, until again when some day they to would have to leave.
The one thing I don't know, does anyone else know, why the bees can't or don't tear out the old comb every two or three years?
If anyone wants to know where i got this story please pm me and I will give you the info.
doak ;)