Queen marking pens

[Pete D]

Cheapest I have seen, £2.65 inc postage
Select colour and medium.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chalk-Pai...ood-Stone-Water-Based-Uni-Posca-/190596539967

 

[Chrisfnvs]

That seems a good price Pete, we use them but this year we have found it washes off a lot easier than it used to, we have had to remark a lot of our Queens, a bit annoying and time consuming. Chris

 

[Tom Bick]

Thats a shame at one time you could get the full set plus a black through Amazon for under ten pounds but it now looks as though they have changed yellow for orange or the colours are random?

May be worth an email they may just give you the colours if you want the full range that is

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marker-Medium-1-8-2-5mm-Assorted-5014013-01/dp/B001QLIGGM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1378125140&sr=8-5&keywords=pens+posca"]uni Posca PC5M Marker Medium Tip Line Width 1.8-2.5mm Assorted Ref 5014013-01 [Pack of 6]: Amazon.co.uk: Office Products[/ame]

 

[Pete D]

That seems a good price Pete, we use them but this year we have found it washes off a lot easier than it used to, we have had to remark a lot of our Queens, a bit annoying and time consuming. Chris

Ah, I noticed that a bit and have held them a few seconds longer to allow it to dry a bit more before its licked off (if indeed it is).
Had one out on a hot day this year and seemed very runny, maybe they have thinned it a bit to add extra value, for them.

 

[Pete D]

Thats a shame at one time you could get the full set plus a black through Amazon for under ten pounds but it now looks as though they have changed yellow for orange or the colours are random?

May be worth an email they may just give you the colours if you want the full range that is



Well done Tom, eclipsed again, you do really need to shop about. Can anyone beat that.

Just got a brrgain, well maybe..............
2 x tickets for Twickenham this Saturday for thr Premiership rugby season opener, double bill, Saracens v Worcester followed by Wasps and Harlequins, paid £11 including postage off e bay.
I say maybe as price of train, hotel, food and copious ale will bump it up/

 

[Anduril]

Sorry to hijack the thread, I am having the same problem with these pens. Anyone using the Zig posterman waterproof chalk markers? Are they anygood?

 

[Tom Bick]

Perhaps its just the Red thats the problem, if so no problem for a few years and by that time the pen will be lost or dried up due to lack of use.

Personally I have all but given up on marking queens and have found that once you get use to spotting her and the shape the bees create around her you realise she is a far bigger target than a small spot of paint. Also she looks better without the paint.

I know one day its not going to work.

 

[itma]

One advantage (apart from price) in buying the pens from a non-beekeeping source is that one can buy non-bee-standard colours (like orange, purple and silver) and practice to your heart's content marking drones without risking any confusion with HMQ.
And you can use different colours for drones in adjacent hives, and see where they turn up!

/ OK its late for this season, but next year ...

 

[Headnavigator]

Not just the red Posca pens, I had the same trouble with the Yellow. I did allow time for it to dry, but as you can see the workers' immediate reaction was to scrub it off. Nothing but a very faint ring left in the end. Funnily enough the red this year has been more durable, but that was on a new queen who had a few days caged on her own before release.

 

[Goran]

Beside of marking for spotting a queen, more important to me is to know what is going on in the hive. This way I can see if I lost queen ( emergency, supersedure or other thing..). If I notice that, I search for remains of qcells and if emergency queen more carefully watched and as soon as I can, replace with better queen. I use also POSCA, some take it of, some don't. But always remain some trace of colour.
Interesting with markings - one beekeeper told me he got in one hive marked queen from selection recently introduced and started to lay. Soon hive beside this he had growing queens, while was time take them out all queencells were destroyed and found marked queen. He opened hive where he originally put mentioned marked queen from selection - and found no queen..

 

[dpearce4]

I use a water based tippex not worried about the colour as I write on my notes what year she is. Its just important that I when I see her I know its the same queen as always in there not a new one.

 

[drstitson]

as per dpearce4 - unless you are selling queens/colonies IMHO it's best to stick to a colour that works well for you. Your records will have the information you need re year of queen (you could have painted bricks on hive roofs).

and, using a non standard colour might help in case of colony theft - if suspect found with bees they are unlikely to be able to explain the colouring.

 

[Walrus]

Tippex for me too. I do the marking in spring, so current season queens are not marked.