What to do with old Queen?

[AliciaH]

Iddee:  Yea, I know, I was just funnin' with y'all.  I've learned so much from this site that I know a joke wouldn't get played like that unless it was in the humor section.  ;)  And even then, it's pretty obvious!

For me, who has never used alcohol for more than sterilizing, however, it was an initial shock to realize that it could be used in this fashion.  Of course, we use alcohol to preserve bees when we ship them off for testing, so it makes sense that the queens pheromones would be preserved and could be used later, too. 

It's one of the reasons we all come here and discuss things, right?  To learn new things and to learn how to look at some things differently for a new perspective.

Thanks, again, everyone, for the information I'm continually absorbing! :)

[AllenF]

The queen in the alcohol does work better than the worm in the bottom of the bottle. :-D  With your old queen, set her up in a nuc and see if you can get her through the winter , if only for the fun of it.   4 and a half frames of honey and a half frame of brood.  You never know.

[Michael Bush]

I put them in a nuc until I know I won't need them (usually that fall) and then I drop them in a jar of alcohol with all the other retired queens to make swarm lure.