marking queens

[rober]

while marking a queen she shifted just as i dabbed the paint & there is paint on her head. is this a problem? she's in a cage so i'm wonder whether the 3 attendants will clean her.

[Robo]

It is hard to say, depends on if it got into her eye or damaged her in any way. I have seen some pretty "bad" paint jobs that seem to pose no issues to the queen.   If the paint was still wet,  the attendants will do there best to clean her.  Only time will tell for sure.

[Kathyp]

were you the one having trouble keeping queens in your hives?  might try not marking them....

[Shanevrr]

Ive done same thing,  it will wear off after a few days around her eyes,  but workers may see her as damaged and start queen cells but she should be fine regardless.  Make a small cage from hardware cloth and trap her on comb, mark her and let go.  Or buy brushys.  Not handling her is better anyway.

[mulesii]

I did the same with a queen in a nuc I purchased a month ago.  The queen wasn't marked when I purchased, so when I finally found her after two weeks I was anxious to mark her.  I got some of the paint on her head and right eye.  I saw her when I inspected the hive last week, she had the paint on her thorax and none on her head.  My poor aim apparently didn't affect her performance as there were lots of eggs and brood in the hive.

[VolunteerK9]

I just received a marking tube from Brushy the other day to try marking again. Dark queens are a little harder to find than the nice bright Italian colored ones (for me anyways) Gonna start out on some drones to get the hang of it.

[hardwood]

I don't know first hand, but I heard that marking queens was gay...right Bjorn?? :-D

Scott

[Robo]

I just received a marking tube from Brushy the other day to try marking again. Dark queens are a little harder to find than the nice bright Italian colored ones (for me anyways) Gonna start out on some drones to get the hang of it.

Hope you find the tube more useful than I did.   I found it took far more pressure than I felt comfortable with to hold her from squirming AND you need to get her thorax lines up with the grid.  To me,  holding her with my fingers seems far less stressful on her,  and I know it is for me ;-)

[rober]

kathyp-yes i've been having problems keeping queens. this was my 1st attempt at marking so it has not been an issue with keeping queens.
  i do not have a marking tube. i was holding her with my finger & thumb. she vibrated while i was holding her & i loosened my grip slightly just as i was applying the paint. she should still be in the cage & i'll be checking her status shortly when i go to feed a couple hives that are drawing out foundation

[sterling]

I don't understand the purpose of marking queens or thinking she needs to be found everytime you check a hive. :?

[Kathyp]

if you have a requeening schedule, or are trying to keep a certain breed of queen and want to know if your hives have replace queens, you might want them marked.  other than that, i don't see a good reason either. 

maybe heavy AHB areas might need to keep track of queens...

[VolunteerK9]

I don't understand the purpose of marking queens or thinking she needs to be found everytime you check a hive. :?

I personally dont look for the queen everytime I check a hive, but I tend to get split happy on occasion. So if a dab of paint can save me a few minutes per hive, then Im going to start doing it. My bees arent the friendliest in the world so every minute spent looking for a queen translates into more potential of getting lit up.

[Beregondo]

Unless I am getting into the hive specifically to do something with the queen, I never look for her.
I look for the presence and pattern of open brood to determine the presence and condition of the queen.

Which is why a marked queen is important to me.
Since I so seldom look for her, my queen finding skills get little practice.

When I need to find her (or to make sure she is not present, as on a frame of brood I might move to another hive) it is helpful to have a bright spot of paint on her back to help me do so.

[BjornBee]

I don't know first hand, but I heard that marking queens was gay...right Bjorn?? :-D

Scott

Good memory!   :-D

Here is a little on the subject that I wrote back in 2009. Scan down to the article about marking queens.
http://www.bjornapiaries.com/beekramblings200910.html

[mulesii]

Bjorn, I looked up your quote from May 2009 which was in reference to markig queens.  "I want to take this product and paint a 18 inch disk on your back. If we have families participate, we can have family members paint their backs with different colors. White, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red, seems like great colors. But once marked, you will carry the spot for the rest of your life. So pick a good one." 

I think you are a little late with this experiment.  Apparently tattoos have not made it out to your neck of the woods in PA, and out here in Phila there are plenty of people who did not pick a good one.

[BjornBee]

 :-D

[rober]

well she is alive & well & still in her cage.

[hardwood]

 X:X