Hello Michael & All,
> I  usually place 25 or 30 cages on an excluder, and cover this with a
16x20 >wool  cloth. On top of this goes a 2" rim or an empty super, and then
the >outer
> cover. I loose a very few queens at times, but they keep in better shape
than
> on my kitchen table. At the end of requeening I sometimes have a few
>queens  left in the bank. I've seen these queens remain alive until I wrap
the >colony  for winter in November.
Although there are many ways to keep bees and Michael has had success with
the above method I see no reason why when the bees cluster the queens
wouldn't be left to chill. Clustering around a queen in a cage happens but
returning to the main cluster when the temperature drops is the natural
response. Jerry's method of putting the queens between eggs/larva frames
would be a safer choice in my *opinion*.
As for the queens still alive until November. I don't understand leaving a
queen caged any longer than necessary. The queen cage is simply a cage to
transport a queen from point A to point B. The best release method and not
brought up in this discussion is the push in cage. For the best results get
all those queens *out of cages* and in nucs. Keep a nuc yard. Requeen with
nucs with laying queens and forget about using those *man invented* queen
cages as *homes* for queen bees. Unnatural and the longer caged the less
acceptance.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri
"Over forty years learning from the bees how to be a better beekeeper"