E-mailing former boss - how to word "are there jobs available"

Searched for a similar topic and couldn't find one, which is odd. Feel like some version of this question would get asked a lot.

I interned at a bank last year (ending February of this year), and am now going into my senior year of college. My boss at the bank moved on to a BB after I left, and I want to e-mail him to see what the job prospects look like over there (and ideally get the whole "send me your resume" response).

A few issues, though:
I haven't spoken to the guy in 6 mos. Not a huge period of time, but basically my last day at the office was the last time I saw him.

We didn't work all that closely together. He was just one of the 10 or so traders I worked with every day. I did a great job, and he knows that I assume, but it's not like we were buddy buddy. He's a good guy though, and we got along fine.

I fear that in his mind I'm probably one of many interns that have gone through over the years. People I worked closely with told me I was the gold standard for interns, which is nice, but I don't think he would know that since my job was basically making sure everything was running smoothly.

Basically, I don't want to come off as a guy just popping up asking for a job. I also don't want to pretend I'm not just looking for a job (hey how are you, long time, etc.), since I feel like that would be insulting to his intelligence.

What's the mindset of these kind of people? Do they want you to just be direct and say "hey, hope you're doing well. I'm starting the job search in the fall and was wondering how things look over at Bank XYZ" or do they get that kind of request constantly and are annoyed by it?

Sorry for the long-winded post, and thanks for any advice