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Honey Production for Harvest <br /> • A queen excluder is a wire or plastic grid <br /> with space large enough for workers to <br /> pass through but too small for the queen <br /> to pass through (Figure 23). It is placed " 7 <br /> between the brood chambers to confine <br /> the queen to one area. The excluder <br /> will be used for dividing colonies, and to r <br /> prevent the queen from laying eggs in the <br /> honey supers. „ <br /> • Honey supers (medium depth 6 5/8" or • <br /> shallow depth 5 11/16") are placed above .4i <br /> the brood nest for the bees to store honey Figure 23.A colony with a metal queen excluder on top and ready <br /> for the beekeeper to harvest. for the addition of honey super boxes. <br /> To begin, you will need 10 frames for each honey super if using 10-frame Langstroth boxes. To produce comb <br /> honey, where you will be eating the entire comb, use frames with split top and slotted bottoms and thin surplus <br /> foundation.Avoid wire or plastic in the foundation for comb honey. <br /> S <br /> Supers are for Honey, Only <br /> Medium or shallow sized supers are used for collecting honey that the bees produce <br /> in excess to what they need for themselves. Supers are placed over the brood nest, <br /> often above a queen excluder to keep the queen from laying in them. The mystery <br /> Words of of why beekeepers choose shallower boxes for honey is easily solved the first time <br /> you lift one at harvest time: heavy! Medium and shallow supers weigh less than deep <br /> Wisdom boxes when full of honey and are easier to lift and handle. <br /> Importantly, supers should always be stored and used separately from any boxes used in the brood nest. <br /> The brood nest wax combs will likely accumulate pesticide residues from stored pollen. Pesticides are <br /> lipophilic, meaning they like lipids, which pollen and wax contain. Nectar and honey do not contain lipids, <br /> so residues in honey are much lower. <br /> One advantage of using boxes and frames that are all the same size (e.g. all mediums or all deeps) is <br /> that you can rotate frames with comb from the supers to replace old comb in the brood boxes. But do not <br /> rotate frames from any brood box into a honey super. Keep your honey pure. <br /> Replace brood combs regularly. <br /> 41/ <br /> Beekeeping in Northern Climates 23 <br />