Glycerol stocks are great for long-term storage of bacteria. They’re easy to make and you can prepare them from the same overnight culture you use to miniprep them.
-- take 500μL of that culture & add to 500μL sterile glycerol; invert to mix & store in -80°C freezer (I typically flash freeze in liquid nitrogen before sticking them in) - should be good for years if you avoid freeze-thaws 
-- when you want to use it, just thaw it on ice enough that you can scrape a bit off the top to plate
- then, if you want, you can miniprep the rest of the overnight culture to isolate the plasmid 
some links…
more on glycerol solution-making: • Making a 80% glycerol ...
more on molecular cloning: bit.ly/molecularcloningguide ; KZfaq: • Molecular cloning over... ⠀  
more about subcloning and various plasmids: blog form: bit.ly/vector_plasmids ; KZfaq: • Choosing vector plasmi...   
more on transformation: bit.ly/transformheatshock ; KZfaq: • Bacterial transformati...  
 
more on mini preps: bit.ly/minipreps ; KZfaq: • Miniprep science - wha...    
more about what to do when a plasmid you order arrives: blog form: bit.ly/plasmid_prepping ; KZfaq: • What to do when a plas...  
 
more on cloning cells: blog form: bit.ly/dh5alpha ; KZfaq: • DH5α strains and a PSA...   
 
more on expression cells: bit.ly/bl21_rare_codons ; KZfaq: • Bacterial expression s...  
random practical lab tips & tricks: bit.ly/lab_tricks_page  
 
more about all sorts of things: #365DaysOfScience All (with topics listed) 👉 bit.ly/2OllAB0 or search blog: thebumblingbiochemist.com                                  
                                    
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