# Feasable to mark existing queen for identification?



## exmar (Apr 30, 2015)

When I do inspections, not particuarly looking for the queen, unless there's something going on that makes me think I should. Have watched a ton of youtube videos and they seem to spend a lot of time looking for queens. Is it feasable or desirable to mark an existing queen in a hive? I'm thinking more in terms of making sure you don't crush her inadvertently. If it is, what do you use to mark them?

Thanks,

Ev


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## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

I get paint pens at Hobby Lobby- use color for year of queen, helps with spotting her and knowing her age. Put her in marking tube (or hold between thumb and forefinger) and mark her, I allows put in back in queen catcher and set on top of bars 5-10 minutes- put her in too soon after painting she may get balled.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

Of course it is quite simple to mark a reigning queen. You must know how to catch a queen by hand.

Practice on drones. 

This youtube has an excellent view of the wing capture to leg trap transfer that is the very heart of queen handling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Sb6J_uY3E

I use Testor's model paint with a drill hole in the cap with a toothpick as the paint brush -- you seal the little bottle of paint by storing the tooth pick in the drill hole.

Michael Palmer has a way cool video of himself painting queens with a grass stem -- which looks to make a better paint brush than the toothpick I use. 

The queen capture technique should be learned --- to cage a queen you use the same technique, and slowly opening the leg pinch, the queen runs into the cage on her own. I run my queens into a cage and blow on them until the paint hardens.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

I mark all my queens, just for ease of finding them. I use a queen clip to catch her. then I walk away from the hive with the clip and drop the queen from the clip into the marking tube (looks like a push up ice cream pop). Then I use the acrylic paint from the craft dept to put the dot on her thorax with a small paint brush. Let her dry for a minute or two and insert her back into the hive. I've not caught a queen with my fingers simply because my hands shake too much.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

> Is it feasable or desirable to mark an existing queen in a hive?

Yes. Buy this year's color and next year's color paint pens.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm#colors

Then mark a thousand drones by whatever method you choose with next year's color. By hand is a skill worth developing... but you can use a marking tube if you like and you can even catch them with a hair clip queen catcher. But being able to just catch her is worth learning. After you don't have to think about it, then try a queen. Make sure you have the pen working and blotted so a blob of paint doesn't go onto the queen.

This is a story by Jay Smith on clipping a queen, which is pretty much the same except you put a dot of paint on her back instead of clipping the wings. But it is educational as well as an amusing story...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearingsimplified.htm#c26


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

If you have a steady hand and light touch queen marking isn't a big deal. Testor's model paint is great. Michael Palmer's video tells you everything you need to know. I put a little dab of honey on her wings and see how her workers react to her while still in my hand. I haven't marked thousands of them, but so far so good. They hop right back down like nothing happened most times. On occasion they'll stand on the top bars and get cleaned for a bit before slipping down in.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Pretty queen JW


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

I recommend this device if you lack the dexterity to catch a queen by hand. http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/HD-101.html


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Michael Palmer said:


> Pretty queen JW


 

Thanks, Michael!


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## exmar (Apr 30, 2015)

Thanks for all the responses! Guess I'll chase down some testors pens.

Ev


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

exmar said:


> Thanks for all the responses! Guess I'll chase down some testors pens.
> 
> Ev







They may make Testor's pens, but I use the little jars. Be warned. Take the lid off BEFORE you catch the queen. They get locked on really tight.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

JWChesnut said:


> This youtube has an excellent view of the wing capture to leg trap transfer that is the very heart of queen handling.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Sb6J_uY3E


This is the EXACT same way I mark my queens.
Marking queens makes finding her so very much easier and faster. It also tells you her age if you use the appropriate year's colour. It also is a way to tell if your hive swarms and raises a new queen on their own.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Myself, I don't see the need for marking queens. If I see eggs and have a good brood pattern that's all I need to see in inspections. If the queen is not laying properly, the hive will ensure that they get one that does. lol
Not to hyjack the thread, but to those of you who do mark queens, do you notice a higher mortality/superceedure rate with the marked queens? Some say that the bees will think of the queen as "damaged" and take care of her in short order.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think the most useful information you get from marking a queen is the age of the queen. The second is that you know if it's the same queen as last time or if she's been replaced. This is more important when you are rearing queens as you want to know if you are breeding from the queen that got these bees through the last winter or if she's been replaced since then... I prefer a queen with a bit of a track records, like the last TWO winters...


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

I see from both videos that to get to the next level of beekeeping i need to learn to pick up individual bees by the wings. There is always something to work on.


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## xphoney (Nov 7, 2014)

Michael Bush said:


> I think the most useful information you get from marking a queen is the age of the queen. The second is that you know if it's the same queen as last time or if she's been replaced. This is more important when you are rearing queens as you want to know if you are breeding from the queen that got these bees through the last winter or if she's been replaced since then... I prefer a queen with a bit of a track records, like the last TWO winters...


Reason Three: Seeing where the queen is when putting frames back in. If she is on the end bars then wait until she in away from edge so you don't crush her.

We feel the most important thing you can do as a new bee keeper is to open the hive again and again to observe what is going on. This is how you get years worth of experience in a single season. This was very valuable for my kids and myself as well.

Reason two is a great learning tool as well. Helps you understand when you see queen cells opened from the top or side as to what is going on.

We recommend ALL new beeks mark their queens.

Andrew
XPHoney


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## CajunBee (May 15, 2013)

In addition to, or in lieu of marking, how many people clip the wings? Doesn't seem as common practice anymore.


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## TxGypsy (Mar 17, 2012)

Michael Bush said:


> I think the most useful information you get from marking a queen is the age of the queen. The second is that you know if it's the same queen as last time or if she's been replaced. This is more important when you are rearing queens as you want to know if you are breeding from the queen that got these bees through the last winter or if she's been replaced since then... I prefer a queen with a bit of a track records, like the last TWO winters...


Yes, absolutely! This is especially important for southern beekeepers in Africanized bee areas. 

Another tool that some find handy for getting a queen into a marking tube is a queen pipe. It works very well for getting her off the comb and into a controlled environment. Place the sponge back into the base of the pipe, wrap your hand around the stem of the pipe with the queen marking tube above it so that she has no way to escape and then blow through the sponge. She runs right up the stem into the marking tube. https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/21/Queens-Bees/Queen-Rearing/4194/Queen-Pipe-Catcher


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

I've made it a habit of carrying this years paint pen in my suit. as I'm working splits if I see one I mark her. over the course of a few months all got marked. I seem to find queens more when I'm not looking then when I need to find her


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Another tool that some find handy for getting a queen into a marking tube is a queen pipe.

Maybe you have to get the hang of it and maybe I'm not doing it right. I have two of these and never found them useful. I can catch the queen with my fingers and run her into a cage SO much easier. I find the hair clip catchers very useful, not only for catching them but for putting the queen somewhere that I know where she is, but I never found a use for the pipe. I thought it would help me get them into cages, but if you poke the queens head in the cage, she runs right in... You put the pipe over her and she does not...


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Sure mark them, what could possibly go wrong?

http://www.beesource.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15649&d=1422395159


I thought this was kind of a neat idea.

http://youtu.be/S4DObdEtwPk


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## TxGypsy (Mar 17, 2012)

We all have different strengths and weaknesses, so things that work for some don't work for others. I work with a lot of beginners that would be terrified of actually picking up a queen. I have found that the queen moves up the tube readily. The main trick is to only get the queen into the pipe. It helps tremendously to have someone hold the comb for you and it helps to have the stem of the pipe pointing upwards.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think every new beekeeper should have a queen muff and a hair clip queen catcher. That way you can catch the queen easily enough (being gentle and careful of course) and then do whatever else in the muff where she can't fly off and you can get all kinds of practice.


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