Queen Castle sources

[bnatural]

Does anyone have a source for Queen Castles other than Brushy Mountain? I ordered two, but shipping is going to cost $56, which is almost the cost of the two castles. There's a cover in the order, too, but it still seems insane. They say it is because they have to ship in two boxes, but the castles aren't even assembled. I just received an order from BetterBee that came in 7 boxes via Fed Ex (in two days, no less), including three heavy Pierco foundation boxes, and the total for shipping was only $81.

I saw a post that Walter Kelly had them, but I could not find them on their website.

Brushy Mountain is backordered for two weeks, so I have time, if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks,

Bill

[ttruluck]

Kelly cat# 95 may be what you are looking for.

[bnatural]

Thanks for the info. Still could not find it in their on-line catalog (it's not the best design), so I emailed them with the number.

Bill

[slickbrightspear]

kelley has something similar but they do not call it a queen castle think that may be trademarked.

[jdpro5010]

You may wamt to try blueskybeesupply.com they are a dist. for brushy and the shipping may be cheaper. They are good people to.

[bnatural]

Thanks, Folks. I finally found the Kelly product (by scrolling page by page, until I hit page 48 - never thought to try 'mating' in the search field, duh). They call it a 'Mating Box'. I like the ventilation, but not the fact that it is only three divisions (I'm guessing three frames each). I like the flexibility of using the Queen Castle for 2-frame mating nucs and then, if needed, setting it up for two 5-frame nucs. Bummer. But, I can always add ventilation to the QC.

Blue Sky does carry the Queen Castle. It is a few dollars more, but according to the shipping information in their catalog, it's almost 25 bucks cheaper to ship two of them. Unfortunately, their spring hours are M-W-F, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to reach them to see if those numbers are, in fact, correct (could be old).

At least now I have a basis for comparison.

Thanks!

Bill

[BeeAware]

I have the Brushy Mtn Queen Castle and the mating boxes from Kelley. The Kelley box is superior in my opinion. I ordered 10 of theirs this spring. There is 3 division boards with make 4 compartments. They will hold 4 2 frame nucs with all dividers installed. You can also make 2 5 frame nucs if you wish by removing dividers.

[michael-bees]

Just cut some grooves in the ends of a deep before it is assembled.

[bnatural]

I have the Brushy Mtn Queen Castle and the mating boxes from Kelley. The Kelley box is superior in my opinion. I ordered 10 of theirs this spring. There is 3 division boards with make 4 compartments. They will hold 4 2 frame nucs with all dividers installed. You can also make 2 5 frame nucs if you wish by removing dividers.

Okayyyy.... am I looking at the wrong item?

https://products.kelleybees.com/wtkprod/detail.aspx?item=616

"Product Description:

Mating box comes fully assembled, a standard hive body size with a plywood bottom featuring 3 separate compartments, each with it's own entrance, air vents, and plywood lid. Dividers may be removed for expansion. "

Bill

[michael-bees]

Dont know, what are you looking for. These queen castles all started out as a 10 frame deep. If you take the end pieces and make cuts in them on the table saw then cut up some corrugated plastic or 1/4 plywood for dividers you will have either 2,3 or 4 chambers to use as you need.

[Ben Brewcat]

As above, take a deep and groove it with a circular saw or on a table saw. Notch out entrances, make a canvas cover and you're running.

[bnatural]

I have the Brushy Mtn Queen Castle and the mating boxes from Kelley. The Kelley box is superior in my opinion. I ordered 10 of theirs this spring. There is 3 division boards with make 4 compartments. They will hold 4 2 frame nucs with all dividers installed. You can also make 2 5 frame nucs if you wish by removing dividers.

Okay, so I just called Kelley and spoke with a very nice woman at length. She explained that they USED to sell a 3 division board unit, but changed this year to 2 division boards for three 3-frame compartments based on the feedback they got from queen breeders, who said three frames were better than two. BA, you must have gotten the last of the old style.

So, queen breeders out there - what do you think? The Brushy Mountain Queen Castle is more versatile, since it can be set up as two 5-frame nucs in a pinch, which is nice. The Kelley mating box could be set up as one 6 frame and one three frame, which is not as useful, but the ventilation design looks to be better. Is the three frame design superior to the two frame style?

I was hoping to be able to use these boxes as side-by-side 5 frame nucs for overwintering, if I ended up with extra queens. Not an option with the Kelley design, but maybe not such a big deal?

Opinions, ideas, concerns? Should I get one of each, compare, and draw my own conclusions? That's probably what I would recommend to myself, if I was reading this post, but queen rearing is new to me.

Bill

p.s. Also, thanks for all the advice on how to build one, but I'm not set up to do woodworking, at least not these days. So, I buy everything. As a hobbyist, it's not such a big deal. But, the way things are going, if I keep adding hives, that will definitely become an issue.