What is the primary purpose of a queen excluder?

The primary purpose of a queen excluder is to prevent the queen from entering the honey super. This device is typically placed between the brood chamber and the honey super. The design features openings that are large enough for worker bees to pass through but too small for the queen, thereby restricting her movement.

This restriction is crucial for honey production. Allowing the queen unrestricted access to the honey super would lead her to lay eggs there. The presence of brood (developing bees) in the honey super can contaminate the honey with bee larvae, making it unsuitable for harvesting. By keeping the queen in the brood chamber, beekeepers can ensure that the honey super is dedicated solely to honey storage, leading to cleaner and higher-quality honey that is ready for market.

The other choices do not accurately describe the main function of a queen excluder; for example, allowing the queen to lay eggs freely would defeat its purpose, and keeping worker bees from leaving the hive is unrelated to the queen’s movement. Additionally, separating drones from worker bees is not something a queen excluder is designed to perform.