Queen Bees and Documentation

[E&MBees]

My aim is to raise a queen (using a demarree) this year and I have also ordered another from Jonathan Getty to arrive later in the year. My query relates to how people document their progress, future queens bred from them etc. JBM, if I recall correctly in one post ages ago, you said that you could trace your current queens back to their mothers, grandmothers and further back too.
Do people number them, or the hives they are in, use names, keep family trees? I would be really interested to know as my current record system does not cater for these considerations.
Many thanks,
Emily

 

[Apple]

There is a protocol laid down in the Buckfast breeders to denote mother drone and off spring
I believe Hivemaker... breeder of Super Buckfast bees on Exmoor uses this system.
The Dutch Carniolian breeders have a similar system.


I number all of my Cornish Amm breeder queens with thoraciac discs, lines are recorded

I wonder if JG can trace his Norther Ireland bred stocks back to the original imported French Amm stock?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

JBM, if I recall correctly in one post ages ago, you said that you could trace your current queens back to their mothers, grandmothers and further back too.

I give the queens a numbered page in my ringbinder file, the number always stays with the queen, or her daughter if she is superseded (if she just dies, then I score out her record on that page and give the number to a new queen) a bit like lamp checks underground, each queen has a numbered plastic tab which hangs off a hook on the brood box, if she moves, the check goes with her, if she swarms, the check stays with the daughter (unless I catch the swarm!!)
If I need to check the queen's lineage, I go back to the book.

 

[E&MBees]

I give the queens a numbered page in my ringbinder file, the number always stays with the queen, or her daughter if she is superseded (if she just dies, then I score out her record on that page and give the number to a new queen) a bit like lamp checks underground, each queen has a numbered plastic tab which hangs off a hook on the brood box, if she moves, the check goes with her, if she swarms, the check stays with the daughter (unless I catch the swarm!!)
If I need to check the queen's lineage, I go back to the book.

Many thanks for your reply. I like the idea of the numbered tag.

 

[E&MBees]

I give the queens a numbered page in my ringbinder file, the number always stays with the queen, or her daughter if she is superseded (if she just dies, then I score out her record on that page and give the number to a new queen) a bit like lamp checks underground, each queen has a numbered plastic tab which hangs off a hook on the brood box, if she moves, the check goes with her, if she swarms, the check stays with the daughter (unless I catch the swarm!!)
If I need to check the queen's lineage, I go back to the book.

Can I just check something please? If you raise a daughter but keep her mother, does the daughter get a new number or does she become 1a for example?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Can I just check something please? If you raise a daughter but keep her mother, does the daughter get a new number or does she become 1a for example?

she gets a new number, her page just gets noted as, say 'Daughter of Q50 2019' I can then flip to page 50 to find in 2019, queen 50 was the 2017 daughter of number 8 queen (I know her line off by heart)

 

[E&MBees]

she gets a new number, her page just gets noted as, say 'Daughter of Q50 2019' I can then flip to page 50 to find in 2019, queen 50 was the 2017 daughter of number 8 queen (I know her line off by heart)

Brilliant. Thank you. I like things to be orderly, numbered tags will work nicely.

 

[Swarm]

Queen ID pinned inside the roof, if she is moved, it goes with her. ID includes first the year, beekeeper's ID*, which mating apiary and her number
Something like 2020/SL/OV/7
Subsequent daughters would follow with /1, /2 etc depending how many raised.

* Working with another beekeeper or as a group exchanging queens it helps build a clearer picture. If I bring in a queen from my friend, she will have his ID and her background is traceable. Also let's you know where you get your best results if using a few mating apiaries.
Your queen from Jon would be 2021/JG/1 and a daughter raised would become 2022/JG/1/1. Beyond this point, grand daughters, I would then revert to my own ID format.

Needless to say, this info is all stored on file.

 

[E&MBees]

Queen ID pinned inside the roof, if she is moved, it goes with her. ID includes first the year, beekeeper's ID*, which mating apiary and her number
Something like 2020/SL/OV/7
Subsequent daughters would follow with /1, /2 etc depending how many raised.

* Working with another beekeeper or as a group exchanging queens it helps build a clearer picture. If I bring in a queen from my friend, she will have his ID and her background is traceable. Also let's you know where you get your best results if using a few mating apiaries.
Your queen from Jon would be 2021/JG/1 and a daughter raised would become 2022/JG/1/1. Beyond this point, grand daughters, I would then revert to my own ID format.

Needless to say, this info is all stored on file.

Thanks Steve, that really helpful. What do you do when you acquire a swarm? How do you identify the queen then?

 

[GuyNir]

Thanks for posting this thread Emily. Good info

 

[charlievictorbravo]

My aim is to raise a queen (using a demarree) this year and I have also ordered another from Jonathan Getty to arrive later in the year. My query relates to how people document their progress, future queens bred from them etc. JBM, if I recall correctly in one post ages ago, you said that you could trace your current queens back to their mothers, grandmothers and further back too.
Do people number them, or the hives they are in, use names, keep family trees? I would be really interested to know as my current record system does not cater for these considerations.
Many thanks,
Emily

I've attached some notes I prepared for the bee group I belong to in which I proposed a system of queen recording and numbering. This was written just at the start of the pandemic and has not been acted on or even discussed due to the coronavirus restrictions.

I don't know if this will work but I think it will and I hope the system of naming according to the year of birth will be useful for people who don't have a good memory so you don't have to look up the record card to find out how old the queen is because the first letter of her name tells you. From the name you can also tell what colour queen marking should be when you're looking for her! The queen's name and number is on a disc pinned to her brood box.

Hope it's of interest

CVB

 

[E&MBees]

I've attached some notes I prepared for the bee group I belong to in which I proposed a system of queen recording and numbering. This was written just at the start of the pandemic and has not been acted on or even discussed due to the coronavirus restrictions.

I don't know if this will work but I think it will and I hope the system of naming according to the year of birth will be useful for people who don't have a good memory so you don't have to look up the record card to find out how old the queen is because the first letter of her name tells you. From the name you can also tell what colour queen marking should be when you're looking for her! The queen's name and number is on a disc pinned to her brood box.

Hope it's of interest

CVB

Thank you very much. I will have a look. Emily

 

[jeff33]

I use a similar system to others. Each hive has a number tag that stays with the queen. With the number I can track mother, breeder, year. A 2020 queen would have a number like that :
Q1-20-01-M6 which translates as queen number, birth year, breeder number, mother number. For unknown swarms I replace the breeder number with S. For each queen I record a few key info so it helps me decide which ones I want to raise daughters from. It's all on a spreadsheet.