My First Marked Queen

[johnauck]

I caught a swarm about 4 weeks ago. The colony spent the first week in a 5 frame nuc, then I transferred to an 8 frame full depth and donated a frame of honey and a small amount of brood from any hive.

A few days ago (after 4 weeks) I inspected the brood and found the queen. I have never seen any of my queens in three years of beekeeping. The marking kit came in handy and I was able to catch her and mark her.

The bees are very placid and I did not need any smoke. I got a few photos, the one below is just after she was released from the marking cage. Being such a small colony she was easy to find. So far she has filled up almost three frames of capped brood. It should start increasing in strength any day now.

I could have watched her work all afternoon.


cheers

john

[Lone]

I have never seen any of my queens in three years of beekeeping.

Hey - you found one.  You're a better queen spotter than me.

Lone

[BeeMaster2]

Sounds like it is time for you to start building an observation hive.

[hayabura]

good