def create_channel(self, queue_name):
        """
        Create a chanel named queue_name. Must be connected before calling this method.
        :param queue_name: str: name of the queue to create
        :return: pika.channel.Channel: channel we can send/receive messages to/from
        """
        channel = self.connection.channel()
        channel.queue_declare(queue=queue_name, durable=True)
        return channel