Queen marking - silly question time.

[Motobiman]

So after hiving a swarm and checking Q is laying, do I assume she is this year's and mark her accordingly?

 

[SireeDubs]

There'll be some far more experienced beeks along soon, I'm sure, but in the meantime...

Don't mark with this years... If it's a prime swarm, you can assume it's left its parent colony with their queen. That queen will be (usually) at least last year's, or older (no way to accurately tell). Only way she'd be this year's queen is if she was a virgin queen, usually (not always) as part of a cast swarm.

Short answer is that you can't know for sure about her age. I collected a swarm last May. Queen was prolific layer, even into spring. Then the colony superseded her... They'd decided she was past her best for whatever reason!!

The reason I put '(usually)' etc, is that I've found that bees always find the exception to the rule!

T

 

[sugarbush]

I personally don't care about year color or marking queens in general, but if you want to mark I would use a color that isn't common in the hive so she is easy to spot, like hot pink.

There really is no way to know what age the queen in a swarm is, could be first swarm of the season and last years queen, could have thrown a swarm with virgin queen.

If you really want to know, let them get good an established and then clip her leg so the supersede her with a new queen.

 

[Erichalfbee]

ALL my queens get marked white. Easy to see. I know who they are so I do not need to colour coordinate them

 

[madasafish]

Dayglo orange last year.
Dayglo yellow this year.

I hate wasting time looking for queens..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I mark 'unknown' queens with flourescent pink. Only the ones whose age I'm sure of get colour coded.

 

[Motobiman]

What paint/pen do you use?

 

[B+.]

ALL my queens get marked white. Easy to see. I know who they are so I do not need to colour coordinate them

I'm marking all mine white this year too....it makes a change ;-)

 

[BeeJayBee]

Posca pens, from fleabay. I use orange or pink, don't bother with the metallic colours they don't show up very well.

 

[enrico]

I mark in white and then write the year on the brood box in black!

 

[B+.]

What paint/pen do you use?

http://www.bienenzuchtbedarf-seip.d...n-und-Zeichnen/Opalith-Zeichenplaettchen.html
applied with one of these
http://www.bienenzuchtbedarf-seip.d...innen-Fangen-und-Zeichnen/Zeichengriffel.html

 

[sugarbush]

I hate wasting time looking for queens..

Open neighboring hives at the same time, then switch an open frame of brood, between them. 9 times out of 10 your queen will go to the alien brood frame looking for an intruding queen within a few minutes of placing it in the hive. Makes finding them easier without having to go through the entire hive.

 

[Motobiman]

I mark in white and then write the year on the brood box in black!

Yeh - like that idea.