Queen in the super

Hi,

My queen was in the brood box but somehow (I think via warped excluder) is now happily going between brood box and super. I don’t mind this at all as the hive is so full and active and happy.
My question is can I just add my flow hive super to the top (after adding new excluder on top) , therefore making it a two brood box and flow frames on top. Hope that makes sense
Erin

Hey Erin, Your question makes perfect sense and yes you can have a double brood box and fit a Flow Super on top, but spend the few extra dollars and buy a metal queen excluder, it will last more than a lifetime and won’t warp, sag, fracture or distort like a plastic QX.
Cheers

Thanks so much Peter,

Great to hear I was on the right track. Would you believe it was metal?

Have bought a new one, so prepared now.

Thanks for your help

1 Like

Can you see where it failed, like a broken wire in the frame or maybe a bend in it? I assumed it was a plastic QX as they tend to last only a short time.
Hope you have a better season than last summer.
Cheers

Metal QX’s can be faulty upon purchase, going by past experience of myself & others. I purchased 6 from a “reputable” supplier only to find 4 were faulty, going by my reckoning. I contacted the supplier, they wouldn’t hear of it & disputed my reckoning & requested me to return the whole 6 for a refund. I marked the spots with a marking pen, just in case they wanted to show the quality control blokes. I have no doubt they didn’t do that & resold them to some other beekeeper who possibly wouldn’t go to the trouble I went to before using them.

Thanks Jeff

I did have doubts as I thought this was unusual. Will keep a look out in future and look well on purchase.

Cheers

You’re welcome, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve found a queen above a QX. All I do now is bring it home, find the gap/s, (there’s always at least one), fill it/them with Plastibond before returning it to the hive. I think what happens with the galvanized wire QX’s is the bees must wear the galvanizing down to the point where the queen can fit through. It’s in the spots where inconsistencies exist.