Reading (and threading) DataQueue entries - Best practices

Heyo,
 
Question #2 for the day.
 
Here is my scenario.  I need to listen to a keyed data queue in Java and
once I get a record I need to communicate with a remote server over http. If
this process takes say 30 seconds there may be an additional 5 data queue
entries waiting at that point for processing that were delayed because the
http communication took so long.  
 
I have a handful of ideas on how to accomplish this task but want to know
about any "Best Practices" others have found useful.
 
1. For each entry received into my Java program create a new job that will
go out and do the communication. I don't like this option because I will
incur the JVM startup all over again.
 
2. Implement a Java threading process so that when each entry is read a new
thread is spawned within the current job.
 
3. Starting multiple jobs (say 10 or so) that all listen to the same data
queue. This lessens the chance that somebody will have to wait, but it also
means that if 10 processes are running (which each is tied to a user
interaction) that the 11th person will have to wait until one of the
processes complete.
 
 
It seems like option 2 is the best (though I am not real fond of doing my
own thread programming).  Are there other methods that I could use that
would also be good to consider?
 
Thanks,
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com