# Queen Right Colonies Ltd in Spencer, Ohio



## Oberlinmom (Mar 11, 2009)

I live near to Queen Right Colonies, about an hour drive. It's one of the few bee sellers in Northern Ohio. It is a family run business and they are all very helpful.
This is my first year beekeeping and I had the exact reaction I wanted local bees, wouldn't they have a better survival rate for our weather? When I found out the bees were being shipped in from Calif. I started to research. While waiting for the package I discovered that most bee sellers buy in bulk and resell them. There really aren't that many bee sellers that will even ship the bees they buy. The majority do a pick up only business buying from other bee sellers all over the country and reselling. 
Spring weather was too cold, wet and just plain uncooperative for the bees to be shipped, so we had to wait, wait and wait until the area warmed up. 
I have yet to meet anyone that has a complaint about Queen Right. Denzil is always ready to offer advice, he's a former bee inspector, and present president of the Lorain County Beekeepers Association (90 years this year).
This week when I was in the shop buying a new bottom board. His wife was glued to the phone trying to get the shipper they used. Overnight delivery was taking three days. One delivery was to Toledo, 2 hours from here! She wasn't getting any answers. 
I'd recommend Queen Right Colonies to anyone:thumbsup:. Denzil and his family are hard working small business owners that are in their busiest time of year. Sometimes mistakes happen, it was an exception not the norm.


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## NDnewbeek (Jul 4, 2008)

Ok - here are my experiences with QueenRight Colonies:

Experience 1 - Last year I ordered 2 packages of Carniolans from Queenright. The price was right, I am in the north, so the strain was what I was looking for and, as stated, both Denzil and his wife were extremely nice on the phone. Trouble was, they never did get me my bees. I waited and waited. Delay after delay until finally, I had to cancel my order with them (in North Dakota, if they come too late, the growing season is so short that it isn't worth spending the money). I was pretty upset and decided I wouldn't use them again.

Experience 2 - This year, I have had ridiculous queen problems with my hives, particularly those started from packages. Weak queens, superceded queens that don't lay, slow packages, etc. I burned through FIVE purchased queens in four hives like this that would not accept queens. Because queen producers tend to be booked way in advance, I was scrambling around trying to find a queen here and a queen there so that my hives wouldn't fail, become laying worker and get started on time. In desperation, I saw their ad in ABJ again and called. Denzil sent me two Carni queens (they are all BLACK!) through Priority Mail. The price was right and, even with the Post Office screwing up and having the bees sit over the weekend, they arrived in good shape (no dead attendants even). I put them in the hives and both were accepted. I will update on how they perform. Bottom line though, Denzil and his wife did a very good job this time.

So - I will probably use them again (especially if the queens are productive) for my needs. I will probably NOT use them for packages though. Their package operation seems (from my experience and what I have read here) to be the weakest part of their business. Given my recent experience though, I think that they are a generally good business to deal with and would recommend them for any products except packages.

Mike


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

I've had very good experiences with Queen Right Colonies. They have been the most informative and helpful people I've dealt with in the beekeeping supply world. But I agree with the other poster that their package operation is probably their weakest link. 

I've been at their facility when the truckloads of packages arrive and it appears to be an absolute nightmare. Many of their packages are picked up by locals so there is a constant flow of people in and out while they frantically try to get their out of town orders shipped. It's a logistical challenge to say the least.

If you want early spring packages in April or early May you will find that all suppliers in the north will be getting them bulk from CA or the South and reshipping them. You would be best off to order your packages from one of those sources directly if possible. You may pay a little more but the bees will arrive in much better shape.

If you would like northern bred queens later in the spring or summer there are queen breeders in Ohio you can contact, for example Honey Run Apiaries. I don't believe Queen Right breeds their own local queens, so their queen stock will be shipped in from the same areas they get their packages from and then redistributed.


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