Layens plastic queen excluder 370x510mmm

01 · WHAT IT IS FOR

It is a calibrated sieve, not a lid with holes

An excluder works by one dimension alone: the slot lets the foraging worker through and not the queen, whose abdomen is far wider — nor the drone, because of his thorax. Our metal excluders work in the region of 4.14 to 4.3 mm, and that is the order of magnitude we are talking about: a wider gap lets the queen up, a narrower one holds the workers back and costs you crop. Placed between the brood box and the space above, the result is the one you want: the queen stays below laying and only honey goes up, with no brood among the harvest combs.

02 · COMPATIBILITY

It is for the modified Layens, and there the name is not enough

A conventional Layens works horizontally: brood and honey share the one body and there is nothing to separate. This part makes sense once the box has been prepared to take a super — frames with a rebated top bar, side hinges removed and a body on top — and then the 370 × 510 mm cover the brood area. Since everyone makes those changes their own way, measure the real opening of your set-up before ordering: what has to be covered is the whole interior, and the excluder rests on the rebate, it does not clip in.

03 · PLASTIC OR METAL

This one weighs and costs less; the metal one does not bow

The difference between the two materials in this same size is real and worth having before you choose. Plastic is lighter, cheaper and does not rust; in exchange, with years and heat it can bow, and a grid that does not sit flat leaves a gap at the side — which is exactly where the queen goes up. Galvanised metal keeps its flatness and takes cleaning with a hive tool or a flame season after season. Add that this one is cut by hand: offer it up before closing, check that it rests flat all round and that it is not trapped by the roof.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It goes on when the flow starts, as you add the super, and before closing you have to be sure the queen is below: an excluder fitted with the queen upstairs achieves precisely the opposite of what you want. At each inspection, scrape off with the hive tool the bridges of wax and propolis that narrow the slots, and do not leave drones above with no way out.