Queen clips

[Anthony Appleyard]

At https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_clip I have started a Wikipedia article about queen clips. Any beekeeper who knows how to edit in Wikipedia, is welcome to contribute to it.

 

[Beefriendly]

My immediate thoughts are why....and why call it a queen clip, surely would be more accurate to call it a queen catcher, which would allow many different queen catching devices to be described on same place.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I prefer queen killer

 

[Erichalfbee]

I prefer queen killer

Yes. Awful thing.
I wish I had the confidence to pick up my queens for marking.
https://youtu.be/2EMhmfvHKFg

 

[drex]

I watched Michael Palmers video queens have handles ( or something like that), about approaching her slowly from behind and picking her up by the wings. He made it look so easy, it gave me confidence. Practiced a few times on workers and drones and found it amazingly easy when it came to her maj.
I bought all sorts of queen catchers in my early days, but never liked the idea of the clip. Only one I have now is a crown of thorns.
Give it a go this year Dani. Confidence only comes with practice.

 

[viridens]

I prefer queen killer

Yes. Pretty good for maiming queens too.

 

[Antipodes]

Definitely amazing to see Michael catching the queen. I've seen a video of young guy at Aus Queen Bee exporters catching a queen by the wings... very adept too.
I'm too scared to go gloveless, so I use a catcher .....I just let her crawl in through the open jaws - any workers joining in with her seem to abandon her and just crawl out.
The catcher with queen can be put in the warmth of the chest pocket of your bee suit and then you have both hands free... gloves can stay on through the process.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I was taught to catch queens by the wings as part of training in our teaching apiary. The trick is to practise not wearing gloves on drones as they, like the queen, won't sting you. We practised clipping and marking drones but that can be a mistake as it's quite disconcerting opening up the hive on the next inspection to find half a dozen marked drones when you are trying to find the marked queen!

 

[For want of a better word]

I was taught to catch queens by the wings as part of training in our teaching apiary. The trick is to practise not wearing gloves on drones as they, like the queen, won't sting you. We practised clipping and marking drones but that can be a mistake as it's quite disconcerting opening up the hive on the next inspection to find half a dozen marked drones when you are trying to find the marked queen!

Mark them with a different colour.

Problem with marking " al fresco" is she can and will fly off!
I pick her up and but her in a big clear plastic bag... then operate ( mark and clip) in the Defender with the window closed... can provide hours of entertainment if she flys of and gets under the dashboard... now effectively covered in!!

Butterfy and other queen catchers now in room 101!

Chons da

 

[Tim.S]

I like queen clips, they are really useful for parking the q to one side while doing things in the hive, I have never harmed a q with one! I fail to see how they can be of any use for q marking etc, pick her up she won't bite you and once you master picking them up you will wonder how you managed before, I certainly did!

 

[pargyle]

I prefer queen killer

Yep .. saw an instructor once demonstrating how to use one .. he scooped up the queen and couple of workers who just moved straight theough the slots and he was just in the process of saying 'and you gently close the jaws and you have her safely. oh **** !' as he let the jaws close gently but firmly right across her abdomen as she made a dash for freedom.

Crown of thorns is the safest if you want to arrest her or I have one of those plastic tubes and you can train HM just to walk into it when you want her safe outside the hive ...

 

[Gunzo]

I like most have no confidence to pick her up bare handed and found the one handed queen catcher the beez kneez.

Cheap and easy to use. Great little devise to control her for marking.

 

[Swarm]

If your gloves fit correctly, as in tight, you should be able to pick her up easily enough.
I wouldn't want to risk something that could slip in my fingers. COT has been abandoned since a strange episode with a new queen last year. Cage pressed gently into place and queen marked but on removal she lay there. I could see she was moving and thought she was just playing possum. She eventually started to walk around. Never seen again and colony was united.

 

[user 819]

I handle the queen to mark and clip, during inspections if the need is to find the queen I do use a Q clip to keep her safe on the top bars.

 

[masterBK]

you can put queens for temporary safe keeping in hair roller cages plugged with piece of foam and leave her with her bees on frame tops. Better than risking maiming her with clip. She will walk into the roller off the comb (steering her with gentle nudge from finger) if you don't have nerve to pick her up and put her in. I think being able to pick up and handle a queen safely should be on everyones skills list but too many beekeepers insist on wearing thick leather unhygienic gloves and end up being ham fisted.