"My plan is to wait until 6 or 7 frames are full, then add a medium box on top of the deep. Once the medium has filled out 6-7 frames I plan on adding a queen separator and a medium super. I doubt that it will get to that point my first season."
"Most folks don't like using queen excluders, in fact, many refer to them as "honey excluder". Unless you are planning to do cut comb honey they just add a level of complexity that is not worth it. Bees will not go through an excluder to work foundation, you need drawn comb above. For a first year beekeeper, I would worry about getting your comb drawn out the first year and forgo the excluder."
"Thanks, I hadn't heard this. I assumed the idea was to keep eggs, etc. out of thesupers. Thankfully I hadn't bought one yet."
smokeybee,
first WELCOME to the forum!
queen excluders, this is a debate among many beekeepers whether to use or not. like anything else, a personal preference, experience, and management.
like robo said, and i will add, anytime comb needs to be drawn leave the queen excluder off. it is a hindrance to the bees.
i do use queen excluders, i don't consider them 'honey excluders' used properly. i do cut comb honey and i don't care for the queen laying up in my honey supers, whether i have cut comb honey frames in or not. just my preference.
for you now, a first year beek and package bees....... like robo said concentrate on getting the frames drawn and leave the excluder off.
if for some reason, your bees/queen gets ahead of you, frames are drawn, and the queen is laying up in the frames, and you don't want her to AND you are up to the challenge; find the queen, make sure she's not in the super, if she is move her down. place your excluder on if you choose to. the bees will take care of the brood above the excluder. the bees will take care of the brood and will revert the cells to honey cells.
