What is the purpose of a queen excluder in a beehive?

The purpose of a queen excluder in a beehive is to keep the queen out of honey supers. This is a crucial aspect of beekeeping management. When honey is being harvested, beekeepers want to ensure that the honey collected is clean and free from brood (eggs or larvae). By using the queen excluder, which is a grid-like barrier that allows worker bees to pass through but is too small for the queen to fit, beekeepers can confine the queen to the brood boxes below. This ensures that she cannot lay eggs in the honey supers, which would mix brood with honey and make it unsuitable for sale or consumption.

This tool supports honey production by allowing for a cleaner and purer honey harvest, as the honey supers can then be filled exclusively with nectar collected by the worker bees without any interference from the queen. The effective use of the queen excluder results in better honey quality and a more efficient harvesting process.