Hi  all

Bob H. admits that his views are not mainstream on this topic, however I
think the question is not 'do we bank or not', but 'how long is it
acceptable to bank'.

I have done queen banking on a fairly small scale, but very often, and by
many methods (even banking three 'hair roller' cages within mating nucs). I
have also banked a few virgins (which is less successful). However I do not
reckon that it is good to keep queens in cages for much more than a week and
if they have been mailed then that shortens the time that they should be
banked for. If I could not utilise them within a week I would give them away
rather than try to keep them longer.

However you have frames of bees and brood in many other colonies and it
should be possible to make up three frame nucs to get over the problem. If
you have small framed mating nucs then it should be possible to rob enough
frames from those colonies whose queens are being tested for laying ability.

This is the ultimate in queen banking... Once a queen is in a nuc of any
sort the length of time becomes unimportant, because the nuc is self
supporting and the queen is doing her natural job.


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman... G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
Email: [log in to unmask] or  [log in to unmask]
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman & http://www.dave-cushman.net

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