Disaster dropped My queen

[Markthebuilder]

Having checked my horizontall QC it wasn’t viable so decided to combine that nuc with the 8 frame nuc occupied by Red who was laying beautifully but needed space….. all going great until I went to mark her and dropped her. I think I saw head in the direction of her old nuc but I haven’t found her jet.

gutted

 

[Anduril]

When things like that happen it would have been ideal to return the nuc to its original spot. 99% of the time you will find the queen back in the original nuc.

 

[Ian123]

Go back you will often find small ball or group with her some time later.

 

[Markthebuilder]

Thanks for the response and encouragement.
I put the nuc back in its original position almost straight away with a couple of combs. I also spent a good bit of time watching for any sign of a cluster and after tea did a thorough infer tip search of front back and under hives but no sign.

I guess there is a chance she went under the hive and straight in… though I also worry she will have drifted into her mothers hive.
Late on I went back and the combine seamed to have gone well in all other respects very few flying bees had gone back to the original nuc and those that had were very noisy so I put them in the combined Hive which seamed quiet.
I guess all I can do is hope and see what I find next weekend.

 

[Patrick1]

Having checked my horizontall QC it wasn’t viable so decided to combine that nuc with the 8 frame nuc occupied by Red who was laying beautifully but needed space….. all going great until I went to mark her and dropped her. I think I saw head in the direction of her old nuc but I haven’t found her jet.

gutted

Isn’t it time we gave up on the idea of yearly colour codes, if you have less than 20 hive you should be keeping accurate records and know the age of your queen from the notes.

Had the queen been marked white you would have spotted it, personally, I am coloured blind so you can forget red and green, as for dropping the queen in the grass even as a commercial beekeeper I often mark white overwintered or spring queens, my staff are better than I and stick to the coloured system, they overmark my white with the year colour.

Another campaign for common sense.
,

 

[Markthebuilder]

I agree entirely, Thats why My pen is a lurid luminous green... if i had managed to mark her i could have found her in the dark with a torch.

 

[enrico]

I have always marked mine white. As you say the records let me know what year the queen is. I have a big blackboard in my 'bee room' I keep that up to date so I can see at a glance most important things.

 

[philipm]

Always mark my queens white which I find easier to spot .If I was selling queens then the correct colour would be needed. I,ve had queens in the past that could never be found and I didnt see any point ripping the hive apart just to mark her. I think loosing the queen happens I once removed some brace comb and put it in my bucket got back to the shed and there was the queen running around in the bottom of the bucket. The queen taking flight also seems to be quite common.

 

[Anduril]

On occasions when I'm going through a defensive hive and have used various methods, my last attempt using a brood box and excluder to find the queen. After shaking the frames and smoking the bees down, I've found the queen on the paving slab

 

[alancooper]

I agree entirely, Thats why My pen is a lurid luminous green... if i had managed to mark her i could have found her in the dark with a torch.

Mark - what do you use? Quick dry? Non-toxic?

 

[Markthebuilder]

Mark - what do you use? Quick dry? Non-toxic?

Toma as recommended by some on this forum and I think a Northumberland bee supplier uses the same type.

 

[hemo]

Isn’t it time we gave up on the idea of yearly colour codes, if you have less than 20 hive you should be keeping accurate records and know the age of your queen from the notes.
,

Agree and is what I do and expect many others on here as well.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Agree and is what I do and expect many others on here as well.

Yes my queens are now fluorescent green or pink if a swarm.

 

[hemo]

Yes my queens are now fluorescent green or pink if a swarm.

I use the same two colours with Toma's.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve seen some queens double marked. One colour then a smaller dot of another on top. Can’t for the life of me remember who does that

 

[Worker bee]

Having checked my horizontall QC it wasn’t viable so decided to combine that nuc with the 8 frame nuc occupied by Red who was laying beautifully but needed space….. all going great until I went to mark her and dropped her. I think I saw head in the direction of her old nuc but I haven’t found her jet.

gutted

I always use a marking cage for safety but even then small queens can slip through so I always have the queen directly over the hive. I like to leave new queens a while if I notice there really quick and run about but never lost one or killed one to date but it will happen to us all

 

[Markthebuilder]

I always use a marking cage for safety but even then small queens can slip through so I always have the queen directly over the hive. I like to leave new queens a while if I notice there really quick and run about but never lost one or killed one to date but it will happen to us all

The 5 Peas come to mind. I hadn’t which was a major part of my problem . having set off to do one job (unite hives) I changed plan on the spur without any prep and picked up the queen. It was then whilst fumbling to get my new fangled one handed bee marking cage out of my pocket that I dropped her.

 

[Worker bee]

The 5 Peas come to mind. I hadn’t which was a major part of my problem . having set off to do one job (unite hives) I changed plan on the spur without any prep and picked up the queen. It was then whilst fumbling to get my new fangled one handed bee marking cage out of my pocket that I dropped her.

I had one in a cage the other week put the cage down then went in my pocket for the pen, I picked the cage back up not looking properly and her head was hanging out and I squished her when I picked her up. She was hardly moving and when I put her quickly back she actually fell into the hive through the frame. I thought I killed her. I inspected a few days later and she had fully recovered laying as usual. Phew

 

[Markthebuilder]

See my next post

 

[Fizz]

I had one in a cage the other week put the cage down then went in my pocket for the pen, I picked the cage back up not looking properly and her head was hanging out and I squished her when I picked her up. She was hardly moving and when I put her quickly back she actually fell into the hive through the frame. I thought I killed her. I inspected a few days later and she had fully recovered laying as usual. Phew

I squished mine last weekend too! Will find out next weekend if she recovered.