On Wed, 30 Aug 1995, Kelley Rosenlund wrote:
 
> On page 246 of Eva Crane's Bees and Beekeeping, she briefly talks about
> storing many queens (in boxes)in hives for later use. Has anyone tried this
> and with what success?
 
Hi Kelly,
 
I haven't seen a reply to this yet, so I'll offer my little knowledge.
 
I haven't used the method -- I'm too small to have enough queens,
but I'm confident that many people do use it. A number of people raising
queens in modest quantities have assured me that it's their preferred
method of keeping them for a time. I have this feeling that I've even
heard of people overwintering them like that, but I am rather sceptical
about that.  I don't believe there are problems with fighting if the
queens are physically separated. I doubt it's a good idea to store
them _too_ long as queens _do_ want to lay eggs and will get upset.
 
Hopefully someone else will soon give some first-hand information.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott   [log in to unmask]   CompuServe 100332,3310
               [log in to unmask]    CompuServe 100070,413
               Beekeeper; Kendo 3rd Dan; Sometime sailor.
The Basingstoke Beekeeper (newsletter) [log in to unmask]