Build A Modified Dadant Hive Body

Part 4- Build A Wide Queen Excluder
Ed Simon

Whenever you build a piece of bee equipment that doesn’t match the standard Langstroth dimensions, you need to either modify or completely build any supporting equipment. When a modified Dadant (MD) hive was built for Jerry Hayes (Bee Culture editor), a compatible queen excluder was needed. The following steps describe a method to combine two all-metal queen excluders into one MD (20” x 19⅞”) sized queen excluder.

Parts
16 ¼” x 19⅞” all metal Queen Excluder (2)
2’ Copper wire

Construction
Directly overlapping the edges of the excluders will not work! The resulting excluder will have a double thick edge at the areas where they overlap. To eliminate the uneven edges where the sections overlap, the support bars are joined inside the edging. The interior section – the queen exclusion bars – are then reinforced at the joint with copper wire.

Please read all the directions and understand the concept before starting this project.

Note: A bottom board is used as a measuring jig to help layout the cuts needed for the new queen excluder.

Step 1: Remove one of the 19⅞” edges from the first (master) excluder.
Use an angle grinder or a hacksaw to remove the long edge of a queen excluder. Make the cuts as close to the queen exclusion bars as possible. After removing the edge, smooth the protruding support bars so they are even with the queen exclusion bars.

Objective
The following steps describe the marking and removal of a three bar section of the first (master) excluder. Then a second excluder (extension excluder) is cut to size and has a matching three bar section of its edge removed so it can fit into the master excluder’s removed section. The edging is then reformed and the adjacent bars are soldered together with copper wire for strength and to keep the bars aligned.

Note: See the drawing “Joining Two All Metal Queen Excluders” for a visual representation of the results needed.
Note: See the drawing “Joining Two All Metal Queen Excluders” for an identification of the “SUPPORT” bars and the “QUEEN EXCLUSION” bars.

Step 2: Mark the overlap.
Lay the master excluder cut in the previous step on the bottom board. Then position the second excluder (extension excluder) on top of it. Align the edge of the extension excluder on the bottom board so it overlaps the master excluder at the cut. Mark the top (extension) excluder where the cut edge of the first (master) excluder lines up. Then place a second mark on both excluders three wires in where the excluders overlap.

Step 3: Remove three queen exclusion bars from the master excluder.
Bend back the edging that covers the three bars that overlap, then remove these three bars completely. This includes the support bar that is wrapped inside the edging.

Note: You will need to partially cut the edging to be able to completely remove these bars.

Step 4: Cut the extension excluder to length.
After remeasuring the extension excluder, cut the extension excluder to length and smooth the exposed support bars. Then remove the edging back to the overlap start mark. This should expose three queen exclusion bars.

Step 5: Insert the extension excluder into the master excluder’s edging.
Slip the exposed queen exclusion bars of the extension excluder into the void left when you removed the queen exclusion bars from the master excluder. Then reform the edging of the master excluder over the exposed bars of the extension excluder.

Step 6: Join the excluder sections.
Use copper wire to join the two excluders where the queen exclusion bars and support bars meet. The joints should match up with a minimal distance between the queen exclusion bars. Use some soldering flux and solder the copper wires in place. Then cut any excess wire from the joint.

Note: #14 house wiring ground wire works great for the joining wire.
Not hard work, just a little tricky manipulation is needed to create a queen excluder of any width.

Get a copy of Ed Simon’s second book Build Bee Equipment with detailed drawings, construction hints and how-to-use instructions for over forty beekeeping tools and equipment from www.LULU.com. Under the LULU sales section, search for “Beekeeping”.
Ed can be contacted through SimonEdwin41@gmail.com.

Drawing – Joining two all metal excluders