Glue for queen numbering?

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fatshark

Field Bee
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May 4, 2009
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Location
Fife & Ardnamurchan
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
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I need to number grafted queens this year. Has anyone used anything other than the glue provided with the queen numbering kits sold by places like B u z z y B e e s? For example, has anyone used the non-runny superglue?

With thanks
 
The glue supplied is terrible. Doesn't matter how long you leave it to dry, how carefully you push the disc down, most come off. To put it another way, most of the ones I did for the Bee Improvement Group in apideas needed redoing. Some may even make the Spring however still attached.

So yes we have the "right" superglue for this season. It's neat application single handed that's the trick. I don't fancy an irate queen waggling about on the end of my finger...:biggrinjester:
 
The glue supplied is terrible. Doesn't matter how long you leave it to dry, how carefully you push the disc down, most come off. To put it another way, most of the ones I did for the Bee Improvement Group in apideas needed redoing. Some may even make the Spring however still attached.

So yes we have the "right" superglue for this season. It's neat application single handed that's the trick. I don't fancy an irate queen waggling about on the end of my finger...:biggrinjester:
Come on then spill the beans :)
VM
 
I'd read somewhere that this sort of applicator was the way to fit the disks. Perhaps by using a dab of wax to attach the number to the end of the 'plunger' and then adding the glue to the underside of the number ... ?

However, this is guesswork. Any further details would be very useful.
 
I think if you use the search facility you will find a post from Norton saying that he uses superglue, ihave been using the glue supplied but you need to get it on the queen not the tiny hairs. The other problem if you use the numbers for records they usually wear off during the winter, I have a number of white disc'd queens at the moment, just waiting for spring to see if they are still there.
 
I'd read somewhere that this sort of applicator was the way to fit the disks. Perhaps by using a dab of wax to attach the number to the end of the 'plunger' and then adding the glue to the underside of the number ... ?

However, this is guesswork. Any further details would be very useful.

Yep, tried wax; pretty dextrous but still messy.
 
The glue supplied is terrible. Doesn't matter how long you leave it to dry, how carefully you push the disc down, most come off. To put it another way, most of the ones I did for the Bee Improvement Group in apideas needed redoing. Some may even make the Spring however still attached.

:iagree:

The glue supplied with the kit from b*zzybees was stringy and a liability... gummed a drone's antennae together by accident when getting used to the kit. I order a phial of apparently the same stuff from Th*rnes whilst ordering other bits and pieces and it was a much better consistency to work with, no dangerous stringing. But still they fall off. Superglue for me this year.

Perhaps the kit I bought had been on a shelf for a while and the glue had deteriorated? I understand there are two sources of kits apparent by the language of the instruction sheets: eastern europe (Czech?) and Germany, with differences in materials and perceived quality. The kit I bought was the former.
 
I have used acrylic paint succesfully for sticking the little numbers on. I would be very wary of using super glue, unless it was a slow setting sort, as I suspect you could otherwise end up with the queen's thorax stuck to the end of your finger.

The little pots of paint you get from Games Workshop are ideal - small and with a water based paint which dries quickly but not so quickly there is not time to apply the disc to the paint after you have put a drop on the thorax with a paint brush or match stick.

Use the same colour as the year so if the disc falls off you have at least the record of the age of the queen.

They do a nice line in colours such as Goblin Green and Berserker Blue etc.
 
I think if you use the search facility you will find a post from Norton saying that he uses superglue, ihave been using the glue supplied but you need to get it on the queen not the tiny hairs. The other problem if you use the numbers for records they usually wear off during the winter, I have a number of white disc'd queens at the moment, just waiting for spring to see if they are still there.
I have a green queen No 63 still highly legible :)
VM
 
I would be very wary of using super glue, unless it was a slow setting sort, as I suspect you could otherwise end up with the queen's thorax stuck to the end of your finger.

Wouldn't it make finding the queen that much easier, though...? Just point and there she is... ;)
 
Why number the queens? There is only one in a hive, number the hives.

If you must glue numbers on: You can buy Dermabond on Amazon. It is the glue used by surgeons to close incisions.
 
Why number the queens? There is only one in a hive, number the hives.

If you must glue numbers on: You can buy Dermabond on Amazon. It is the glue used by surgeons to close incisions.

The little coloured discs , (sorry, colored disks), have a different colo(u)r for each year. The main advantage for me is they make the queen much more visible, compared to a dab of paint, which tends to discolo(u)r or wear off. This is especially true for the less striking year colo(u)rs such as green. They come in sets numbered 1 to 99, in my experience and the number does help record keeping although for me the number is just a bonus.

For those doing controlled breeding programmes (sorry again, programs) the numbers do ensure there can be no doubt over the identity of a specific queen and therefore her ancestry can be determined, assuming the correct records have been made! However, as you say, numbers on queens are not the only answer to keeping track of your queens.

Of course, as DB suggests, you could just glue the queen to your finger and then there would be no doubt who she was and where she was.

But having just checked on Google I fear Dermabond would be two expensive and it also seems to come in one-shot vials.
 
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There are cheaper versions that are not one shot, and are used by vets,about £4 and upwards. Not sure how long any of this would last though.
 
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There are cheaper versions that are not one shot, and are used by vets,about £4 and upwards. Not sure how long any of this would last though.

Well if it can hold the stomach of a 400 lb woman closed until it heals. it will hold that number on a queen :)
 

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