Marking colors for queens.

[Grandpa Jim]

One of our club members got 2 packages this spring with marked queens.  They are marked blue.  His question was does this mean his queens are 2 years old (blue was 2010's color)??  He says they are doing great.  Do package producers follow the color guidelines or are they using up the leftover blue paint???  Cannot imagine they are putting 2 year old queens in packages.
Jim

[Vance G]

Are all the queens in the suppliers packages marked?  I suspect it is left over ink being used up, but I would expect better if I paid for marking.  Odds of them being two years old are slim I would guess.

[Michael Bush]

There is an international standard.  Many people do not follow it.

[BjornBee]

Tells you how piss poor of an operation it is. Why would any bee business mark the queens incorrectly, knowing that potential questions will be made. Do they expect every hobbiest out there to simply be ignorant of the color code? Do they care about presenting a product in a professional manner? Are they so cheap that they need to "use up" paint pens from previous years? In this case, using a paint pen from two years ago?

You think every queen from package suppliers are from this year? Do you think the average worker shaking bees would hesitate a moment if they came across some queens with a two year old mark? Do you really think all the queens are from that operation and NOT bought with hives after almond pollination? What do you think some operation would do when they come across older queens from hives just purchased? Pinch them? Cage them? Sell them? Sure most mass produced queens are from the poorly designed mini-mating nucs. But that does not mean that the tens of thousands of production hives used for shaking bees does not get requeened every so often, as is he standard practice. You think they pinch all the older queens when requeening their own hives? Having marked queens in production hives allows them to find the queen and NOT shake her out. So they know exactly how old the queens are in their own operation.

Only one way to stop the buyers from asking questions and being suspicious. And that would be for queen rearing operations to spend a few dollars for a paint pen for the correct year, and go with the long standing tradition of using the color code. There is a reason it exists. And making excuses, rationalizing, or expecting anything less is why we get some of the crap we get.

Do I use old paint pens for the couple queens I mark each year for the beekeepers that insist on marked queens? Sure. But I also pull the queens and mark the queen in front of the customer.

[Jim134]

One of our club members got 2 packages this spring with marked queens.  They are marked blue.  His question was does this mean his queens are 2 years old (blue was 2010's color)??  He says they are doing great.  Do package producers follow the color guidelines or are they using up the leftover blue paint???  Cannot imagine they are putting 2 year old queens in packages.
Jim

   

Do they care about presenting a product in a professional manner?

     IMHO  X:X X:X X:X


                  BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[Shanevrr]

As weird as it seems.   Most of our customers dont care about color except they just want to find queen easier,  some even ask not to make it darker colors even we know its not the right year.  Most dont do it for the purpose for what it was meant for.  But we use correct colors unless specified by customer.  Most of the time its to late.  I personaly plan on requeening every year anyway so no point in making a big deal on colors.

[Michael Bush]

>Are they so cheap that they need to "use up" paint pens from previous years? In this case, using a paint pen from two years ago?

As absurd as it is, I think that is correct.

[Grandpa Jim]

He called the supplier and was told they mark all their package queens with blue.  I would think of all the colors it is most likely the easiest to see, especially for new beekeepers. 

[LoriMNnice]

Tells you how piss poor of an operation it is. Why would any bee business mark the queens incorrectly, knowing that potential questions will be made. Do they expect every hobbiest out there to simply be ignorant of the color code? Do they care about presenting a product in a professional manner? Are they so cheap that they need to "use up" paint pens from previous years? In this case, using a paint pen from two years ago?

.

Do I use old paint pens for the couple queens I mark each year for the beekeepers that insist on marked queens? Sure. But I also pull the queens and mark the queen in front of the customer.

I am confused are you saying you don't follow the color code either? or that the paint pens you use are the correct color for the year but just old pens?

[BjornBee]

Lori,
I probably marked two queens in the past two years. Since both requests were pickup orders, I pulled the queens and marked them in front of the customer. That way there was no questions as to the queen they were getting regardless of what color I used.

The point I was making was that if I, or some other operations, was marking hundreds/thousands of queens and shipping them to many beekeepers, they should use the standard color code that has been long established. Of course when someone gets queens mailed to them and they have a color spot that was dated two years ago questions will be asked. Instead of answering questions, rationalizing, and coming up with "stories" to explain why marked queens have different colors, I just simply suggest using the right color for the current year. That way beekeepers don't question and wonder what they are really getting. They charge extra for this service, so why not do it properly. They should mark the queens with the right color and know their customers have no reason to question or doubt what they are getting. It's that simple.

And for companies that don't understand that, they either lack common sense, think beekeepers are too stupid to know, or have other issues as to what they are really passing along to customers.

Of course some will simply buy into whatever story they are told when asking questions after the fact. Skepticism initiated the question, so perhaps a bit of skepticism should be used when pondering the reasons given after the fact. Especially when a long standing practice is casually brushed aside that could correct any perceived problems.

Why would any company use the wrong color without mentioning it in writing, putting it on their website, or explaining it when the customer picked up the queens? Many queens and packages have instructions. If they always use blue paint, they should be known for this. And not just tell the few that actually call about it. For every beekeeper calling, there are 10 times more that will not call, but still have lingering doubts in their minds. And that is why I call them a piss poor operation to not understand that.

[LoriMNnice]

Thanks Bjorn I understand what you mean now :)