Banking Queens

Queen banking is an essential skill for any beekeeper who raises or distributes honey bee queens. It allows for the short-term storage of mated queens until they are needed for installation or sale. When done correctly, banking maintains the queens’ vitality and ensures they remain well-fed and attended by workers. The EZPZ Queen Cage system makes this process safer and more efficient by providing a secure, low-stress environment for each queen.

Advantages of the EZPZ Queen Cage

EZPZ cages are designed to minimize stress and mortality by allowing ample contact between the bank bees and the caged queens. Each cage holds a single queen with handy access for the beekeeper, making it easy to inspect or remove individual queens without disturbing others in the bank.

 

 

Using a Queenless Bank

A queenless bank is typically made from a strong, well-fed colony without a laying queen or queen cells. It should contain plenty of young nurse bees—these are the most attentive to caged queens.

  1. Setup: Queens should be placed individually in EZPZ Cages with our plugs or JZBZ cell cups in place. Do NOT use Candy Caps during banking or the workers will chew through and release the queens. Place the cages into EZPZ bankers and add the frame to the bank.

  2. Conditions: Maintain consistent warmth and humidity, as the bank bees must cluster around the cages.

  3. Advantages: Because there is no resident queen, the workers treat the caged queens as potential replacements, feeding and grooming them readily.

  4. Caution: Over time, the bank may begin to raise emergency cells or drift toward laying worker behavior. For best results, limit storage to 7–10 days before replacing or requeening the bank colony.

 

 

Using a Queenright Bank

A queenright bank contains a resident laying queen, usually confined below an excluder. The banked queens are placed above the excluder in a separate box filled with young bees and emerging brood.

  1. Setup: Install the queen in the lower box, separated by a queen excluder. Place the EZPZ cages in EZPZ Bankers in the upper box where nurse bees circulate freely.

  2. Advantages: The colony remains stable and productive, avoiding the stress and brood disruption seen in queenless banks. Queenright banks can safely maintain queens for longer periods—often two to three weeks.

  3. Feeding: Regularly supply syrup and pollen patties to maintain nutrition and strong nurse populations.

  4. Management: Rotate new young bees into the upper box periodically to ensure attentive care. Avoid overcrowding; 20–30 queens per medium box is an appropriate density.

 

 

Best Practices for Queen Banking

  • Use only young, well-fed bees for attendants and bank maintenance.

  • Keep conditions stable: Avoid chilling, overheating, or drafts.

  • Inspect frequently for dead or stressed queens, replacing attendants as needed.

  • Do not store queens long-term: Banks are meant for temporary holding, not overwintering.

 

 

Conclusion

The EZPZ Queen Cage and banking system simplifies the process of storing and managing queens, whether you prefer a queenless or queenright banking setup. By maintaining proper nutrition, temperature, and bee density, beekeepers can ensure their queens remain healthy and vigorous until they’re ready for use in new colonies. With care and attention, queen banking becomes an efficient, reliable part of the queen rearing process.