At 12:00 AM 6/8/01, you wrote:
>. I do realize that weekend beekeepers need to bank queens when they
>arrive midweek.


Queens and their attendants can survive in the mailing cages for a week or
more. Give a few drops of water twice a day. *Don't bank queens* unless
absolutely necessary. The general consensus is that *they are not improved
by this process*.

My plan for a queen bank is this:

Start with a good strong hive. Remove the queen and cage her or get rid of
her. The first story should contain combs with no brood. Put an excluder on
top of this and fill the second story with honey and brood, putting the
youngest brood in the middle. Put the queens in their cages in a special
frame that is designed for queen cages. Hang this between the youngest
brood (dead center in the box). . If the hive is *really* strong put on
another excluder and one super. Check weekly for queen cells and add brood
as needed from other hives. I have one of these already a month old.

Some queens will die in banks, some will die in the mailing cages, etc. You
have to expect this. Talk about replacement policy with you breeder
*before* you purchase queens. Be reasonable. I hear stories all the time of
people asking others to compensate them for their losses. Know your
responsibilities.

[The foregoing represents my personal point of view and no one else.
Contact me off list for further info]