Marked my Queen!

[alfred]

Just marked my first queen yesterday!

I got some packages recently with marked queens and I really liked how easy they were to find with the markings so I decided to mark my other queens.

I didn't have any stuff so I used some acrylic paint and a small tip brush. I found her and dropped her into a jar. When she held still for a second I got a drop of paint on her back. Then I kept her in the jar for a minute or two. She began to look very distressed and I thought I had killed her..

I put her back into the hive but on top of a queen excluder for a minute and watched as the girls rushed up to her. At first I thought that they were killing her, they were all over her! Then I saw that one had started to feed her! The others cleared a bit and I saw that they were trying to groom her. They even got some of the paint off, but not enough to matter. So I removed the excuder and let them all drop down into the hive.

Don't use excluders normally but I had used them this time between the boxes for a few days to help me find her, won't have to do that any more! I will check in on her in a few days to make sure she is alright.
It was very cool to see the grooming and feeding activity! I have one more queen that I plan on marking. It sure makes finding them easier.

[riverrat]

i bet before long the girls will have the paint groomed off her :-D

[alfred]

Well you were right I was in the hive yesterday and there she was all pretty and CLEAN....

I only checked one of the two Queens that I had marked, I will assume that the other got groomed clean as well. Wow I would not have thought that they could clean acrilyc paint off of her! I gave it pleanty of time to dry before she went back in too!!

I guess that I will have to pony up for some proper marking pens or look at this numbering system I read about in another post.

[troutstalker2]

  When using the marking pens try not to have the tip have too much paint on it. That's a mistake I made when I started marking queens. I  get the paint on the tip and dab off a little then mark her. I also use the queen marking syringe thingy, I can't seem to grab her and keep ahold of her. I know others just grab her, tun her and mark her. I always think I'm going to hurt her.
  Just some thoughts, but whatever works best for you.

David

[Robo]

 I know others just grab her, tun her and mark her. I always think I'm going to hurt her.

David,


Practice on drones until you feel comfortable doing it.  You'll actually find it much easier than trying to squish her so the thorax lines up thru the grid and applying enough pressure so she doesn't turn on you.   Not to mention it is less stressful for her than the squish method......