Marked Queen now unmarked

[Cobbydaler]

I got my first nuc 4 weeks ago. On inspection today I noticed that my Queen no longer has a mark. Has there been a mutiny? Or has it been cleaned off?
Am I even worrying about nothing I couldn’t see any eggs, but the light was bad and I am only a learner. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[E&MBees]

I have found that my bees do their level best to remove the mark from the queen. Some colours also stand out much better.

With regards to seeing the eggs, I have a little pocket magnifying glass which helps and when I’m really stuck I use the torch on my phone. Taking photos is also a good way to spot things.

Good luck!

 

[madasafish]

I have found that my bees do their level best to remove the mark from the queen. Some colours also stand out much better.

With regards to seeing the eggs, I have a little pocket magnifying glass which helps and when I’m really stuck I use the torch on my phone. Taking photos is also a good way to spot things.

Good luck!

I have a pencil sized USB LED torch.
Fits in top pocket.
Great for seeing eggs on dark days (this month so far then)

This is it:
https://tinyurl.com/y8tgrqtp

 

[Newbeeneil]

I have a pencil sized USB LED torch.
Fits in top pocket.
Great for seeing eggs on dark days (this month so far then)

This is it:
https://tinyurl.com/y8tgrqtp

I have several, one is always plugged into the van and one in each suit/jacket, they are swapped as the run out of juice.

 

[joelsoo]

I now started to use nail varnish to mark queen's. It stays on her longer.

I used the water based posca pen previously but if u accidently dribble nectar or she got some honey on her during an inspection whatsoever, the bees will clean her and due to liquid on the paint, it will tend to make it easier for workers to wash it off over time.

Nail varnish, I was advised that acetone based is safe for the queen and most if not all are acetone based. If in doubt use a drone or worker to test and see if they get attacked before trying on the queen. So far so good for mine.

Queens do go on holiday and go off lay it happened to a colony of mine this year and I got abit worried but I did spot the queen and let her be. Next week when I checked again I started seeing eggs again.



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[Repwoc]

Nail varnish, I was advised that acetone based is safe for the queen and most if not all are acetone based.

I think ethyl acetate is the usual solvent. It smells of pear drops. Acetone is used in most nail varnish removers.

 

[drex]

I think ethyl acetate is the main ingredient in insect killing fluid used prior to dissection

 

[joelsoo]

I think ethyl acetate is the main ingredient in insect killing fluid used prior to dissection

I think that's chloroform, or if animals is formaldehyde...

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[gmonag]

I think that's chloroform, or if animals is formaldehyde...

Chloroform = Trichloromethane

 

[drdrday]

I think ethyl acetate is the main ingredient in insect killing fluid used prior to dissection

Ethyl acetate is used in the preserving of insects - it kills most small insects. But it's also the solvent in a lot of nail varnish. Not sure I'd trust it too near my queens!

 

[drex]

I think ethyl acetate is the main ingredient in insect killing fluid used prior to dissection

Have just checked. Yes ethyl acetate is used to kill bees prior to dissection. Would not use anything containing it for marking

 

[Swarm]

Tipex, Airfix paint, all these things have been used and now we have nail varnish and oil based pens.
I think I'll stick with water based, has to be kinder to the bees.

 

[B+.]

Have just checked. Yes ethyl acetate is used to kill bees prior to dissection. Would not use anything containing it for marking

I buy entomology pins from a company that specialises in entomology. They have a number of materials in their "killing" category