marking queens

i am fed up flooding queen with UNI pens and a big retailers thin paint that sepertes out in the bottle rubs off and takes ages of stirring to get it useable

so what paint do you find best to mark your queens

I use uni posca pens and haven't had your problems so maybe you are over priming it. The only problem I have had with the pens is that if you apply the pen too forcefully the queen ends up with a dint in her thorax! Before changing to the pens, I used Umbrol model makers paint and found that quite good and applied it using a small amount on the blunt end of a matchstick (so there is a use for matchsticks in beekeeping!!). Umbrol paint doesn't wear off as easily as the water soluble paint from the uni pens but you do need to let it dry for longer before releasing the queen.

+1 a dab on the hand first to make sure it wont flood out over the queen and leave her there in the cage/plunger to dry whilst you finish of inspecting the hive

Posca pens, bought on eBay ... and primed on hive parts ...

Anyway, thanks for reminding me to go shopping for a nice light blue one ...

masterBK said:

I used Umbrol model makers paint and found that quite good and applied it using a small amount on the blunt end of a matchstick

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I use the same, but called Testor's here. A Timothy stem works as a brush, and free. They grow all over the apiary.

masterBK said:

... I used Umbrol model makers paint ...

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Very Uriah Heap! http://www.humbrol.com

itma said:

Anyway, thanks for reminding me to go shopping for a nice light blue one ...

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I'm going to try "Sky" Blue - seems brighter than "Light" Blue ... £2.25 delivered (eBay).

MuswellMetro said:

i am fed up flooding queen with UNI pens and a big retailers thin paint that sepertes out in the bottle rubs off and takes ages of stirring to get it useable

so what paint do you find best to mark your queens

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I am using these for years without any problems

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Permanent...plies_EH&var=420445778985&hash=item1c4a828559

Uniposca in fluorescent pink.

I had the same problem with the pens, I know do some dabs on the frame before hand and it reduces it a little. I am going to stop use different colours for different years however and rely on my records. Yellow or white stands out best for me.

domino said:

I had the same problem with the pens, I know do some dabs on the frame before hand and it reduces it a little. I am going to stop use different colours for different years however and rely on my records. Yellow or white stands out best for me.

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I too have used these for years but without any problems.
I always test dab first on my glove so that if there is a flood of paint, it's on my glove not the queen, that solves the problem.

Cazza

Same here, use uni's. Oddly had no problem with red during 2013 but green (2114) seemed to be 'chewed off' by the bees quite a bit and needed a 'top up'.
I've heard this mentioned before by others on different sites, but I have no explanation why.
Can't be because they don't like green as it's obviously dark in the hive so shouldn't make a difference, unless there is something in the green pigment that they can pick up with the antenna while it is still hardening.

I stopped marking my queens a few years ago now.

I find that the queen has a number of very different characteristics that if you look for them you spot her easily enough but there is the odd elusive queen. Looking for a spot of paint is ok with me and helps with supersedure but the queen looks way better without the paint and as I mentioned has a number of distinctive features and any one can identify her. It’s also possible to narrow down the possible position of the queen in the hive if you read the combs other than looking for that spot of paint.

Tom Bick said:

I stopped marking my queens a few years ago now.

I find that the queen has a number of very different characteristics that if you look for them you spot her easily enough but there is the odd elusive queen.

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I never really started, well not with paint, very rarely, i just clip them, that is all the marking i need, and prefer.

Food for thought, I'm red green colour blind so classic marking schemes means nothing to me. I've habitually marked white. I find it easier to see in contrast to a background frame full of bees.
I'm average at spotting unmarked queens..my wife who has less experience at spotting unmarked queens is simply brilliant at it. I always call her in for the difficult hives.
Perhaps I need a white dot to gain an edge, whereas some don't.
I think it's called pattern recognition.
I envy those who can spot them easily without any aid.

Thymallus said:

Food for thought, I'm red green colour blind so classic marking schemes means nothing to me. I've habitually marked white. I find it easier to see in contrast to a background frame full of bees.
I'm average at spotting unmarked queens..my wife who has less experience at spotting unmarked queens is simply brilliant at it. I always call her in for the difficult hives.
Perhaps I need a white dot to gain an edge, whereas some don't.
I think it's called pattern recognition.
I envy those who can spot them easily without any aid.

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i am red blind in my right eye, but normal in my left, so a binocular microscope examination of pollen is very interesting as i get 3D effect in binocular vision when using red fusion stain for pollen

rook66 said:

I am using these for years without any problems

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Tried one of those with green for the first time last year, it showed and lasted better than the uni posca version. There are several suppliers on ebay. Some have a slightly different colour range, I have a pink for unknown age and will be trying the blue this year.

I mark as much for not seeing the queen as seeing her. I had a couple of queens who used to habitually hang out on the underside of the queen excluder, it's marginally quicker to check the queen isn't on it if she's marked.

Most beginners are supplied with bees with a marked queen. Some get so used to seeing her every time they inspect their colony that they can get in a panic when they don't see her.

Tom Bick said:

... It’s also possible to narrow down the possible position of the queen in the hive if you read the combs other than looking for that spot of paint.

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Good point.

I personally do still find that my eye is drawn more easily to the spot of colour than it is to the 'different' bee. But others may have more aptitude, or simply better skills!

alanf said:

Tried one of those with green for the first time last year, it showed and lasted better than the uni posca version. There are several suppliers on ebay. Some have a slightly different colour range, I have a pink for unknown age and will be trying the blue this year.

I mark as much for not seeing the queen as seeing her. I had a couple of queens who used to habitually hang out on the underside of the queen excluder, it's marginally quicker to check the queen isn't on it if she's marked.

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just bought a blue so, we will see how it works

thanks to everyone for their comments