# New Queen Castle Build



## Arlo (Sep 16, 2009)

Just wanted to share the new queen castle build.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Nice work, but you're going to have a fit trying to get the frames out.


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## Arlo (Sep 16, 2009)

Hmm there is about 3/4" of extra space to move the frames around in each compartment.


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

Arlo, if you have any difficulty removng frames, you can use a frame gripper. Brushy Mountain has the best frame gripper.


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## Gazelle (May 17, 2015)

Nice work Arlo!


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Very nice, are the raised screws to get the lids off? I used thin ply on my center dividers (removable) and they warped something bad so your design is better there! I really have to force mine in and out. The frames were not an issue even with the warped boards, just more bur comb.
The other modifications is that I cut holes (¾ or 1” I think)along the back with hardware cloth for ventilation but it really works well for confusing anybody that wants to rob them out. I could only see one of your sides.
I also cut a ½” hole in my lids and put jar feeders over them this last year (used the Randy Oliver mason jar lids)


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

jwcarlson said:


> Nice work, but you're going to have a fit trying to get the frames out.



Agree. The brushy version is tight and it uses 1/8" thin dividers.


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## AAIndigo (Jun 14, 2015)

Nice job.
I run these but use 1/4 luan as dividers with 3/4 topbars dadoed and glued to the top. I then rest the 3/4" covers on top. Tops have holes for mason jars. These need to be staggered and the outside holes offset to allow a deep box to cover all.

I pull frames to start nucs and restart the QC. Dividers can be pulled to run 2 wide resource hives when I'm done breeding


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## Arlo (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the comments, I've been pretty busy this winter making woodenware the dividers are 1/4" ply they slide real nice after I sanded the edges and I was thinking about drilling some 1" holes on the bottoms (like a SBB) for each compartment (still trying to figure out what would work best for ventilation). Yes the screws are to remove the lids but I think I may add some cheap wooded pull knobs and use them instead. I also made a dual 3 frame mating box, bunch of hive bodies, bunch of inner covers and a bunch of telescoping covers. I have four 8 frame hives now but going to change them all to 10 frame mediums but only use 9 frames in each box this year. Hope to have at least 10 hives in the yard this time. Still have all colonies alive and well hopefully after this ice storms we have had lately they will still be good. Made some sugar cakes for each hive and hope to get them on sometime this week.


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## coopermaple (Aug 30, 2009)

Have a question looks like the covers set directly on top of frames? Is that why they look recessed in the top? If they do looks like squashed bees every time you close them up. As mentioned looks really tight spacing for frames. even tighter getting them in with queen cells.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I find it better to use 3 frames instead of 2. Somehow my bees like to 
occupy the middle frame for broods and the 2 side frames for nectar and pollen. Also with
a patty sub on the 3 framers will hold the patty better. For my own expansion I like to hold the
queen in there longer to evaluate her laying pattern before going in the production colony. Using 3-4 
frames will keep the hive population up better than the 2 frames lay out. Two framers tend to depleted the
foragers sooner resulting not enough bees to cover the developing larvae for my queen evaluation until the next
round of broods emerged.


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## beenerds (Apr 24, 2010)

Great job, I drill holes and line with mesh to ensure I can feed. The invert a honey super and place a lid over everththing.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

As far as feeding, I just put a queen excluder on and feed thru it. They all use the same feeder without incident. I bought some beemax boxes during dadants free shipping at the Holidays to make some insulated ones easily.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Arlo said:


> Hmm there is about 3/4" of extra space to move the frames around in each compartment.


It's a lot less than you'd imagine. And if they're on any sort of flow it becomes real fun with thicker honey bands. Dividers will be propolised in shortly.
But I'm more-so talking about what appears to be extra height built into the box. It's going to make for a real narrow approach from the top. They're certainly work though.



AstroBee said:


> Agree. The brushy version is tight and it uses 1/8" thin dividers.


The ones I built were with 1/4" dividers. This year I'm buying all 5-frame nucs for mating boxes. Solves a ton of problems I have with my queen castle experiment from last year.



They're not the end of the world to use, but there's better options. 

I didn't and don't mean to "thread crap", Arlo. Just sharing my experiences with similarly constructed boxes last year. I raised about 50 or 60 queens through them last year. And I'm sure I'll use them again this year, but 5-frame was by far preferential. You'll love the queens you rear out of them either way!


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## Arlo (Sep 16, 2009)

No problems JW I take no offense, I'm learning... this will be my first year to try and make my own queens. The box is the same dimensions as a 10 frame deep I'm sure I can do some modifications to the top if needed I do plan on adding feeders like beenerds suggested. Coppermaple yes the lids do sit directly on top of the frames.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Arlo said:


> No problems JW I take no offense, I'm learning... this will be my first year to try and make my own queens. The box is the same dimensions as a 10 frame deep I'm sure I can do some modifications to the top if needed I do plan on adding feeders like beenerds suggested. Coppermaple yes the lids do sit directly on top of the frames.


My lids sit on top of the regular depth box, and it violates bee space. So they put a little comb in there, careful when you put them out because after a couple of weeks you're likely to get lid and frames in one piece because they'll have it all connected up. What I've come to realize is that you get away with a lot more stuff when you've got plenty of space for the colony like in a triple deep or double deep + supers. But once you turn them lose in a tiny box they're going to use every nook and cranny that they wouldn't necessarily need to in a bigger colony because they have plenty of space/foundation in which to draw comb.

As an example. My two framers LOVED to build this off the bottom of the frames if I left them in there for even a few days too long:


I wish you luck in your queen rearing. It's the most enjoyable part of beekeeping for me. Like Christmas morning every time you go hunting for a new queen.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Totally agreeing with you there, JW.
I like the queen rearing experience also. The single nuc box for mating and overwintering is what I use
as the norm for now. Bought a bunch of that over the holiday sales just for queen rearing and holding them in a
queen castle fashion with dividers. Testing the side-b-side 2 queens set up just now. One nuc should be able to hold
2 queens with winter mite frames manipulation too. Queen castle is good for holding the mated queens though not that
good for a mating nuc that tends to confused the queens on their return mating flights. Once she entered the wrong nuc hive
then the balling begins. Individual mating nuc is better for me from experience-both bees with mites and queen management.


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