Deep Frame Isolation Cage

Use this frame isolation cage in many applications to control your queen's location.

$34.95

This queen isolator cage allows you to control your queen’s location without the hassle of complex manipulations with caging or other confinement methods. The cage is made from steel bars spaced like a queen excluder. The isolation cage will hold one deep Langstroth frame (9-1/8″ tall) and will fit into a deep hive body.

If the queen is inside the cage, she will work to fill the single frame with brood but won’t be able to leave.

If the queen is outside the cage, you can prevent her from laying eggs on the isolated frame.

In either case, workers will be able to easily move through the bars to tend to the brood and the queen. It has the added benefit of allowing the pheromones of a laying queen to continue to keep the colony cohesive, which is not the case when using a standard queen cage to confine her.

Options for Use:

  • Short-term confinement of a queen from a recently caught swarm or package, so that she can begin laying without any risk of bees absconding
  • Limiting the queen to one frame, and then removing that frame of brood, to produce a completely broodless colony for certain mite treatments
  • Imposing a brood slow-down to limit colony growth before a dearth
  • Isolating the queen for a day so that she may produce eggs or brood of a very precise age
  • Short-term isolation of the queen on one frame so that you can quickly find her later

Be careful when inserting and removing the frame within the isolation cage. If the queen is on the frame, ensure to lift it slowly and gently-the queen could be killed if scraped between the frame and cage wall.

Note: The cage does occupy more space than a single frame does. Two frames should be removed to make ample room for the isolation cage in a deep hive body. One frame is inserted into the cage, then the solid cover is placed on top. The cover will sit on the frame’s top bar and can be removed to access the frame without removing the entire cage. The top edges of the cage will be flush with the sides of Langstroth wooden hive bodies, so the queen will be completely contained. When using equipment that may have differing dimensions, you may add some spare wax to either side of the top bar to totally ensure that the queen cannot leave the cage.

Product Specifications:

Outside Dimensions

  • Top bar cover length: 19-1/16″
  • Top bar cover width: 2-1/4″
  • Top bar cover height: 9/16″
  • Comb area length: 18-1/8″
  • Comb area width: 2-3/16″
  • Comb area height: 9″

Inside Dimensions

  • Top bar cover length: 19-1/16″ (end is open)
  • Top bar cover width: 1-3/4″
  • Top bar cover height: 1/2″
  • Comb area length: 18″
  • Comb area width: 1-3/4″
  • Comb area height: 8-7/8″