paint for marking queen

[Greggorio]

Ok I have lots of kinds of paint but have no idea if they are toxic to bees or not. How on earth does the paint not come off over a year or two?

So is there a type of paint I might have I can use or one I can buy. Or should I just make the 45 min journey to the nearest bee shop and get whatever they sell for extortionate prices because someone printed a bee on the side of it

I doubt I'll even find the queen but I've read it's worth practising on drones for a bit to get used to doing it

 

[Bosleeu]

You can use nail polish or a permanent marker. Just search online for queen marking pen there are loads available.

The marks will often fade over time, and if you release the queen before it has dried the bees can sometimes take most or all of it off.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[YorkshireBees]

I, like a lot of other beekeepers, use Posca pens.

You can find them online through a lot of different outlets.

One tip though is don't use the pen to mark a queen before testing it on something else as in warm weather the ink/paint can come flooding out!!

 

[Millet]

You can use nail polish or a permanent marker. Just search online for queen marking pen there are loads available.

The marks will often fade over time, and if you release the queen before it has dried the bees can sometimes take most or all of it off.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Permanent marker is Toxic too me so Bee wise it is a no no ..

 

[Greggorio]

Permanent marker is Toxic too me so Bee wise it is a no no ..

my bic permanent marker is non toxic but that's to humans. no idea if that covers bees (or if it just covers everything. Never had to think about bees in relation to all encompassing words before...)

 

[Millet]

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...

 

[Arfermo]

Quick drying nail varnish does mine.

 

[Millet]

my bic permanent marker is non toxic but that's to humans. no idea if that covers bees (or if it just covers everything. Never had to think about bees in relation to all encompassing words before...)

This is what happened when i was ringing goldfinch and bullfinch chick's.. i went over the ring with marker to hide shine and this happened as they are placed in the mouth during ringing.. without going on ..permanent marker's sure hold some strong chemical's..

Be careful what you use bee folk..

 

[itma]

Ok I have lots of kinds of paint but have no idea if they are toxic to bees or not. How on earth does the paint not come off over a year or two?

So is there a type of paint I might have I can use or one I can buy. Or should I just make the 45 min journey to the nearest bee shop and get whatever they sell for extortionate prices because someone printed a bee on the side of it

I doubt I'll even find the queen but I've read it's worth practising on drones for a bit to get used to doing it

The UK standard is the "Posca PC-3M" marker pen.
They can be found on eBay for about £2.25 each (inc UK delivery). Likely not much different throughout Europe. (There's French writing on the pen, though they come from Japan...) UK bee shops sell them for at least double that.
They come in about 25 different colours.
So its easy to get a 'non-standard' colour for use on Drones.
Don't practice on Drones and then mark Q with the same colour ...

Press down the 'tip' on a scrap surface to release some paint, then gently paint it onto the bee. Let it dry properly before releasing the bee, and the mark can last at least as long as the bee.

You can mark frames, etc with the same pen to show their year. So, not really an extravagant waste of £2.25

// Of course all sorts of folk do use all sorts of other stuff...

 

[Hivemaker.]

This is what happened

Powerful stuff, it blew the top of your head clean off.

 

[enrico]

Eco tip ex. Is water based, lasts a good year, comes with a soft pad on the marker stick. If it starts to dry out just add water and shake
E

 

[Millet]

Powerful stuff, it blew the top of your head clean off.

Hahaha.. it is actually powerful stuff my lip carried on swelling and going numb till around 1hr later..then it slowly went down after a piriton tablet.. but it left the inside of my lip with split's in it..

 

[Stevie Day]

Quick drying nail varnish does mine.

Does that mean I'll have to take up wearing nail varnish lol

I use a Posca pens too. Its best to spend a few quid on the correct item, than risking your prized asset with a cheap unknown.