# Marking your Hives



## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

I brand all boxes with a propane branding iron, and also had "outdoor decals" printed with my company name and Florida registration number (1/2 inch lettering). Each hive gets 1 decal on the brood chamber (bottom box) and as stated EVERY box gets branded.


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## Skinner Apiaries (Sep 1, 2009)

Yes there are threads for this, etc. Link them if you must. I too need a cheap branding iron. Suggestions? Think cheap.


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

never seen real cheap branding irons but I can say they last a really long time...mine has been passed up through the family beeks from my grandfather.


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## concrete-bees (Jun 20, 2009)

we made our brand -- im a welder so it was simple but if you are not a metal worker - should be someone near your house that can - just let them know what you need - 

the cost of propane branders are way out of my free money stash - 
i dont know why they cost that much but they have the market 

we brand our logo and then just paint the Reg number - but i want to brand it in later -

we brand our frames tops bottems - everything -- you paid for it might want to spend 2 sec to brand it 

-- here is a tip..... Brand as you build or buy -- otherwise you will hate branding after 3 hrs of it - 

oh and branding plastic frames it is best done outside hahaha but you all knew that 

also most important and you can not forget to do this step 
TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR BRAND- A FEW OF EACH AND PRINT THEM OUT - PUT THEM IN AN ENVELEOP AND SEND IT TO YOURSELF -- DONT EVER OPEN IT UNTIL YOU HAVE SOMETHING MISSING AND YOU HAVE A SHERIFF WITNESS THE OPENING OF IT 

the reason i say to not open it is that the stamp gets a printed date and that shows that your brand was made prior to the theif 

also it helps to post a picture on a website that stores pics- like myspace or facebook or even on here - just so that you have a date of making 

again you paid for it take the time to do it right the first time 

hope this long post helps you out


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

I stencil the outside of the box and that's it. I don't brand. My boxes have brands from every beek around as do many of the frames. These things are sold/traded/mixed up/split/etc. so I never saw the point. The only reason it could help is if you get a bunch of hives stolen and you find them....and then it's not a sure thing to prove they were stolen. Here we don't have that problem...somewhere else it may be a good idea so check your area.

Oh the stencils cost about $2.50 and a buck for a can of black spray paint.


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## fat/beeman (Aug 23, 2002)

if a thief wants them he will take them no matter how you mark or brand them. I have in the past branded my hives just to find out they just dumped the bee into there boxes and discard mine along the roads. branding frames not practal.
Don
one cure is carry a [boom-boom]


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

True, they can dump the frames and bees into their own boxes, but then they have to find a place to steal empty boxes too. Most thieves aren't smart enough to switch boxes. They've been educated for many years that the system is on the thief's side. If you don't have your brand on them how will you convince a deputy or a judge that the hives belong to you?


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## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

fish_stix said:


> Most thieves aren't smart enough to switch boxes.


Don't we wish!
What if the thieves are beekeepers themselves? They don't need to steal any boxes, they have their own to fill. They can go into your yard at night and strip out only the center 4 or 5 frames. 
Sheri


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## Rohe Bee Ranch (Feb 12, 2008)

peacekeeperapiaries said:


> never seen real cheap branding irons but I can say they last a really long time...mine has been passed up through the family beeks from my grandfather.


I made my own branding iron out of bar stock I picked up at Home Depot. With a hack saw and a torch I cut and then bent all the letters and then took all the pieces to a friend that had a welder. Works pretty well. I use a propane torch or my turkey fryer burner to heat it up.

I also use the turkey fryer to boil my old cruddy frames. This cleans off wax and propolis really fast (compared to just scraping). When I get home I'll post some pics of the branding iron.


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## LSBees (Sep 24, 2009)

Everyone, Thanks for all the tips and insight!


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## BigDaddyDS (Aug 28, 2007)

I'm not nearly as elaborate... I just used a black magic maker and letters about 1" inch tall so they're clearly visible. I figured that any thief would either sand, strip off or paint over my markings anyways. It's the stupid thieves that I want to thwart. The clever ones are too expensive to try and combat.


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## jjgbee (Oct 12, 2006)

Joe Traynor provided his beeks with Avid microchips which only needs a 1/8 in dia hole in your box. Insert it and rub wax over the hole. The thief never knows which box or frame the chip is in or if there is one there. This is the same chip they inject into pets for positive ID. It is encoded in AVID data base as your ID. One demo I saw, the reader was 20 ft from the chip and it picked it up. The chips at that time were less than a dollar. Good insurance. They put AVID chips on farm equip. now.


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## doc25 (Mar 9, 2007)

Maybe you could take the chips out of the rfid cattle tags. They would be registered in your name with the government.
Or you could tag all your bees with them (where exactly is the bees ear?)


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## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

I run between 50 and 60 hives and use the numbered calf ear tags. You can change the number from one to another with a cordless screwdriver and a screw if you need to. I do this for record keeping only, the only way to stop a thief is to catch him in the act.:shhhh: Jack


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## Rohe Bee Ranch (Feb 12, 2008)

As promised here is a picture of my home made branding iron.


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## jjgbee (Oct 12, 2006)

Being broke and cheap, I also made my first branding iron by hand. I heated it with my acetylene torch. It burned up after about 1000 brandings and then I bought a factory made one . The factory one just used a small propane bottle, not the hose and tank set up. I probably have the torch part laying around my shop.


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## mwbratt (Mar 14, 2011)

Sharpie.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I spent the money for a good propane iron. It's worth it if you have very many to do. I was branding more than five hundred boxes and about three hundred lids and bottoms and about 5000 frames.

My thinking is it may not help me find them (although it might) but it ends any arguments about whose they are. If you have bees on other peoples property (and most of us do) and the owner dies, the kids may claim they are "dad's" hives and you need some evidence they are not.

Hopefully the brand is large enough for people to recognize from the road.

http://bushfarms.com/images/DippingBoxes6.jpg
http://bushfarms.com/images/Clip.jpg


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## Ozone (May 24, 2011)

All good advise if your name is Rohe, or Bush, but what about we Oppenheimers? :s.


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## concrete-bees (Jun 20, 2009)

Ozone 
the brand does not have to be your name - it can be anything that you have contol of the iron - so if you have a branding iron of the word IT - then all the boxes with that word it are in reallity your - if the brand fits - and it should if someone stole your boxes 

Also Update on my post from last year- I am just days from recieving my branding iron from Brandnew Industry - they are FAST and GREAT Service !!!!!!!! they are doing a CNC head for mine and its just numbers !!!! so they take pride in the work --
i now have over 1000 boxes -so its worth the buy !!!!!!


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

So what about painting the insides with a stencil???


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## tben (Dec 28, 2008)

I wanted to brand my hives for reasons similar to Mr. Bush's but with only a couple of hives any investment in branding equipment would be impractical. Instead I found a uniquely shaped piece of metal in my garage, set it on each box, and burned around it with a propane torch.


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

For a guy that buys and sales bees and equipment. All the stamps and burnings don't do me any good. I get calls sometimes tell me they found my equipment 2 states away. Well its not mine if I sold it. Only wish they can find the equipment I reported missing.inch:


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## ryanbekke (Feb 2, 2012)

Here is a link to some that are reasonably priced with free shipping http://www.rockler.com/c/branding-irons.cfm?filter=branding iron


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

We brand not one side but all four sides, right above the handholds. One brand will not stop a thief but four brand marks, well that is just too much work for a theiving beekeeper. Even brand several frames in the box. John and Sherri are right. The thief can just slip into your yards and steal the middle out of the box. I had that happen in the Almond groves. Even had 90 hives disappear. But when the would be thief was confronted, the hives mysteriously were found. If the hives had not been so heavily mark, I doubt I would have gotten them back. That was the end of my Almond pollination days. The moral of the story is Brand, You MUST!! TED


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

set aside the folks that pollinate what about putting game cams in your yards around your hives? They are not terribly expensive and should be clear enough to see them and possibly get a license plate number to report the theft. I know it will not do the pollinators any good at all but for the folks that only run on honey it would be less work and better chance of getting your stuff back.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>but what about we Oppenheimers?

I put BUSHFARMS.COM on the last branding iron I bought and that's 2 more letters than Oppenheimer...


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I paint my hives obnoxious colors from the mistint aisle. Either thieves need to be color blind or they'll find it's too much work to repaint the hives. I also have my bees in used equipment so crappy there's no way any self-respecting thief would want them.

Never had a problem...thus far.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Bens-Bees (Sep 18, 2008)

This is just my two cent's worth and I'm just becomming a real sideliner this year, so take it with a grain of salt, but I imagine the odds of finding stolen hives/equipment is slim to none, so there's not a lot of point in heavily investing in branding it, especially if you sell any of it. So here's what I do, I have two large stencils that I use to spraypaint the outsides of my boxes with BEES on two sides opposite each other, and my logo/brand on the other side along with my phone number, registration number, and the year that the box was assembled. It's quick and inexpensive and it lets me see how old the equipment is at a glance which also helps me determine which equipment I can pair up with what other equipment (some of my earlier boxes put the bee space at the bottom, but my later boxes have bee space at the top and I can't pair up two different boxes without causing bee space problems). I admit that if it got stolen all they'd have to do is paint over it, but really, what are the odds I'd ever find them anyway?

As for the inside frames, I used to brand them with my registration number and the year of assembly with a cheap soldering iron for some ungodly reason... what a waste of time. I picked up the idea to just mark them with a sharpie and call it good enough. It takes way less time and is just as legible. Truth be told even marking the registration number on them is a waste of time, but it doesn't take much time now that I'm just writing it and I consider my registration number as part of my brand and I'm proud of my bees and my brand. 

I like the idea for the trail/wildlife cam... though it might just give the theives something else to steal if it's in plain sight, on the other hand, if it's one that uploads pictures wirelessly and has a built in GPS to track it (high end model) if the theif steals it they'd be making themselves all that much easier to catch.

One more thought... really hot bees... go ahead steal them suckers... make their day! LOL


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

i mark my hives with alflex cattle tags or feedlot z tags. I pick tag colors depending on the queen year. Cattle tag marking pens are good to have on hand too. Mark the type of queen, date installed. Any other marks i need i use colored thumb tacks in the bottom board...for questionble hives. Three tacks it's out

Feedlot z tags are cheaper. Just imagine the look on your vets face when you tell them you want to tag your bees... lol


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## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

I got some brass valve tags that I screw into the lid. Makes it easy to track queens and mite tests.


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