Queen Bees do not NEED to be marked, but when you start having lots of queens and want to keep track of how old they are (and make it easier to spot them in the hive) you can mark your queens with an international color code. The last number of the year the queen was bred corresponds with one of five colors: Years ending: 1 or 6 - WHITE. 2 or 7 - YELLOW. 3 or 8 - RED. 4 or 9 - GREEN. 5 or 0 - BLUE.
CUSTOMER SERVICE I’m not sure what those markers are, but I know POSCA markers are odorless, waterbased paint and they’re super long lasting. I would not use a marker that had alcohol in it (like a regular marker).
I have been watching all of your bee videos the past week or so and it's been amazing to watch! It's clear to me you are a fast learner and you care for your bees. It's great to see. I'm guessing the bee videos will be wrapping up fairly soon for the winter which will be sad, but I will definitely be watching next season! Also your subscribers are amazing with the helpful knowledge they help to pass along to you - it's very refreshing to see such positive comments as opposed to the trash talk I see in other UA-camrs comments section.
Deborah Henderson Thanks! My commenters are the best! Bee videos slow down after November, but I try to keep the content going all year round. Stay tuned!
Reminder: One day it will be hot. You will prime the pen out of habit and it will spit out a teaspoon of paint. Get used to priming it upside down the first time to relieve the pressure. I painted a queen all white head to toe a few years back.
I've been binge watching your videos over the past week or so. I don't keep bees myself, but I like to watch beekeeping videos. Yours are definitely my favourites, though!
I helped with the local bee club for spring inspections. The marking helped identifying if the queen had been superseded. Hive didn’t swarm, but the hive decided to make a new queen. Bee master said that they do that sometimes in the winter while not inspecting. You would never know unless you mark them.
Yes the catcher is very good when used with Care but the sliding shutter has been known to decapitate Queens when they make a dash for the opening and you time it badly or they stick their head through the slots as you open the slide!
I ordered the a pack of the same markers off amazon back in august. Amazon doesn't tell you that the item will be shipped from Japan. So be prepared to wait for your shipment to clear customs. Its a great deal, just order 2 months before you want them to be delivered
Nice. I have one of those queen catchers. But never used it. Now I know what it’s for. I’ve captured queens with the other style but haven’t used that one yet.
What an ingenious system! I have often 'kicked myself' for not having been the one to grasp the obvious and invent this stuff! LOL You didn't seem to have a problem with the paint pens you were using, but others have a longer drying time...so folks might want to wait a few minutes before releasing the newly-marked queen. Otherwise, her 'attendants' might just do a bang-up job of cleaning her off...or she'll get smudged, etc.! :-)
Now that some time has elapsed, how well did the mark hold up? Did you mark any queens with the blue pen this year? If yes how well is the blue paint holding up? I'm finding that the blue paint is totally gone after only a few days. I always make sure that the paint has had time to dry, but it isn't durable.
My issue is finding them. With 2 hives I probably spot one queen (not both) in about one out of 8 inspections. When I had to re-queen a (small) swarm, I bet it took me 45 minutes to find her. I ended up shaking frames into a large bin and going through them in the bin.
FYI, clipping the wings interrupts a natural method of swarming. The old queen leaves with the swarm and the new queen. From Wiki: In the prime swarm, about 60% of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen. This swarm can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees.
queen bees do need to be marked in case of swarming or supersedeure; how will you know if the queen has been replaced or the age of your queens unless you mark them I enjoy plucking the queens off the frames to mark and clip their wing; maybe with that gadget you can clip a wing?
It was done, so quick and simple. Now a little rhyme to go with it. 1 queen, 2 queen, red queen, blue queen, this one has a little dot. This one does not have a spot. My what a lot of queens I got. Some are red and some are blue, some are old and some are new. Do you know which queen is the one that flew ? Take care and thanks once again for a great video.
I ordered a package of honey bees and I saw the queen and after three days when she was released she started laying eggs after Few days she was gone we I did not see her. Then I found a new queen is that normal or not
Hurray!!! Now, not only will it be easier for you (and us) to see your queens, but you will know if your queen left or was killed when you don't find one.
Make sure when you are marking queens in the future that you leave her in the queen catcher so the mark will dry and you won’t have to remarked her ever.
Tenmina B That is an international color code used by beekeepers everywhere. He posted more information at the top and pinned it there so its easy to find.
How funny, I already use these pens to mark my girlfriends on the pinky so I can tell what year they are from. When I go clubbing it's so much easier to find her among the others. Good job.
Hey Jim! Way to go! Your Channel is great! Ive watched you keep your bees for the last 3 years and have had the benefit of watching your significant growth. I remember when you were first starting out and you couldn't even get your smoker started! HAHA! How far you have come in such as short amount of time! Well done! Ive learned a-lot from you and am excited to learn more. I don't have enough room on at my house to keep bee's, which is very sad, but I enjoy living vicariously through your channel. Have you thought about installing a temp/humidity sensor in your hive? It might help you diagnose issues and keep tabs on them. I use one around the house that works well for me you might find useful. Its called SensorPush on amazon that is small and works via bluetooth. ( @t ) Have you thought about making a video about things you have noticed these last few years? For instance, things you have done that have worked/failed? Such as the solar wall, insulation, fondent, syrup, varroa mite issues, etc. Just an overall tutorial for people just starting out? Best practice? Schedules? Also, can you show us how you spot the difference is between the cells (pollen, honey, brood, eggs etc ) How can you tell the difference between them?
Today I caught a queen to mark. Something looked wrong so I looked her over really well. Her left center leg looked like it was missing so I looked closer. She has a leg but her 'foot' is deformed. I thought I'd injured her . Must be deformed or a fighting injury. QUEEN STUMPY! I don't name queens but this time I will.
To the 1 person that downvoted this video. Please get a life. Awesome video I loved it. I might have to get those things next year if I can grow my hives.
There are standardized colors in the bee world for marking the year queens were born. Some apiaries use other colors (like if they’re breeding a specific line for something), but generally they go off the standard colors/years so they can keep track of how old their queens are.
You can use it if you like, but there are standard colors for marking queens. There is a color code to denote which year a queen was bred: Years ending: 1 or 6 - WHITE. 2 or 7 - YELLOW. 3 or 8 - RED. 4 or 9 - GREEN. 5 or 0 - BLUE.
Got a big box of pens and prefer the pastel colors. Way easier to see pastels in the hive. The worst is yellow and for myself I'll use orange on yellow years. The big box of pens is the way to go. Pink is what I used this year. Works great.
Balboa got a yellow. The Russian already had a yellow, but I couldn't find her to refresh the dot. All the others I saw that day got RED. The nuc I got this year came with a blue dot even though she was bred this year. It had something to do with the breeder.
Queen Bees do not NEED to be marked, but when you start having lots of queens and want to keep track of how old they are (and make it easier to spot them in the hive) you can mark your queens with an international color code. The last number of the year the queen was bred corresponds with one of five colors:
Years ending:
1 or 6 - WHITE.
2 or 7 - YELLOW.
3 or 8 - RED.
4 or 9 - GREEN.
5 or 0 - BLUE.
why cannot i use standart markers to mark my queen with? are they bad?
CUSTOMER SERVICE I’m not sure what those markers are, but I know POSCA markers are odorless, waterbased paint and they’re super long lasting. I would not use a marker that had alcohol in it (like a regular marker).
POSCA markers are the choice of graffiti artists everywhere because the ink stays bright for a long long time.
Vino Farm thanks for the answer . Im 13 and i dont have a bee hive but im planning on getting one.
Is the life expectancy of the queen 5 yrs trying to understand your marking systems 😊
I love the look on youre face when you told us that you used the black marker to mark youre markers. 😂😂. It looked real smart. 😁
Yes!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
That was my inner nerd escaping from my body.
Marker-ception.
It's like shredding the instructions to operate the shredder. That's got to be a metaphor for...well shit, something.
It's smart and I am gonna do it. Thanks for the video. Ps. you need to wait 5 minutes for the marker to get dry before you release the queen
The smile of pride after you said "I used the black marker to mark the other markers..." made me chuckle.
At that moment, I realized what a nerd I was.
@@vinofarm Meh, nothing wrong with being a nerd. Embrace your inner nerd!
I have been watching all of your bee videos the past week or so and it's been amazing to watch! It's clear to me you are a fast learner and you care for your bees. It's great to see. I'm guessing the bee videos will be wrapping up fairly soon for the winter which will be sad, but I will definitely be watching next season!
Also your subscribers are amazing with the helpful knowledge they help to pass along to you - it's very refreshing to see such positive comments as opposed to the trash talk I see in other UA-camrs comments section.
Deborah Henderson Thanks! My commenters are the best! Bee videos slow down after November, but I try to keep the content going all year round. Stay tuned!
After you get done binge watching it kind of sucks waiting for more videos. I found his channel about a year ago and Sep 1st I got my bees.
Reminder: One day it will be hot. You will prime the pen out of habit and it will spit out a teaspoon of paint. Get used to priming it upside down the first time to relieve the pressure. I painted a queen all white head to toe a few years back.
Good 'tip'
Aww, I feel for you! Still that made me laugh. I...I don't know if she'd have been okay, but, hopefully?
@@DembaiVT that queen died of old age.
never miss the opportunity for a pen, er.. pun.
The one handed queen catchers are awesome. It makes marking a queen a breeze.
I've been binge watching your videos over the past week or so. I don't keep bees myself, but I like to watch beekeeping videos. Yours are definitely my favourites, though!
I helped with the local bee club for spring inspections. The marking helped identifying if the queen had been superseded. Hive didn’t swarm, but the hive decided to make a new queen. Bee master said that they do that sometimes in the winter while not inspecting. You would never know unless you mark them.
I've learned alot watching you learn.
Sweet video Jim, glad to see you posting. Thank you!
Thanks, Julie! I have a month of footage backlogged. I need to start editing the rest of the season...
@@vinofarm Best news I've had all day...love your vlogs and your bees!
Always allow a few seconds for the inc to dry before re-releasing to stop it being cleaned straight off!
I have one of those to works so well. You can use it to clip one wing as well to help with swarming.
When so little has gone right this year, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting SOMETHING to go wrong 🤦 Glad you finally got a break!
Yes the catcher is very good when used with Care but the sliding shutter has been known to decapitate Queens when they make a dash for the opening and you time it badly or they stick their head through the slots as you open the slide!
Yes, you definitely need to be slow and careful opening and closing the door.
Well there goes our "Where's Wally" puzzles for each video, lmao!!
Cheers from downunder mate
🇦🇺 🍺🍺
Nice. That was slick.. Happy BeeKeeping.
I ordered the a pack of the same markers off amazon back in august. Amazon doesn't tell you that the item will be shipped from Japan. So be prepared to wait for your shipment to clear customs. Its a great deal, just order 2 months before you want them to be delivered
The link I shared is shipped from Amazon. I have prime and they came in two days!
Great video Vino as all ways. Keep up the good work! See you the next one.
Nice. I have one of those queen catchers. But never used it. Now I know what it’s for. I’ve captured queens with the other style but haven’t used that one yet.
What an ingenious system! I have often 'kicked myself' for not having been the one to grasp the obvious and invent this stuff! LOL You didn't seem to have a problem with the paint pens you were using, but others have a longer drying time...so folks might want to wait a few minutes before releasing the newly-marked queen. Otherwise, her 'attendants' might just do a bang-up job of cleaning her off...or she'll get smudged, etc.! :-)
About time you marked your queens. :)
Yes! I recently made a video about it!
I'll look for that... :p
I've always wondered how to do this!
I plan on practicing with drones, but with an off year color.
Finally out new video!
wow that was so easy to use.
This is wicked cool!!!
Now that some time has elapsed, how well did the mark hold up? Did you mark any queens with the blue pen this year? If yes how well is the blue paint holding up? I'm finding that the blue paint is totally gone after only a few days. I always make sure that the paint has had time to dry, but it isn't durable.
@1:13 Dad Joke of all Dad Jokes! lol! Love it!
If you prime your pen on the frame you caught her on it’s a good way to remember there’s a marked queen, where you found her, and so forth.
Wow! Thanks for the links! You made that look so easy, hopefully it will be the same for me. :D
What kind of plastic frames are you using?
LIKE FROM ALGERIA
Be Warned You Require Gloves.
Blue White Yellow Red Green.
Blue is for years ending in 0 or 5.
That's a good memory tool! Thank you for sharing it!
I should buy it😊
Great video! Easiest bodypainting ever! Less than 5 bucks too! 😅
that was quick and easy
What kind of camera do you use
My issue is finding them. With 2 hives I probably spot one queen (not both) in about one out of 8 inspections.
When I had to re-queen a (small) swarm, I bet it took me 45 minutes to find her. I ended up shaking frames into a large bin and going through them in the bin.
Spork Eye ugh.. same! I can never find mine.
You made that look so easy . 😂 it’s not for me. Thank you! Getting snazzy with filming and editing! 👍💝🐝
Nice job
could you clip the wings with that tool too? not sure if that is standard practice just asking
FYI, clipping the wings interrupts a natural method of swarming. The old queen leaves with the swarm and the new queen. From Wiki: In the prime swarm, about 60% of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen. This swarm can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees.
@@overlycreative1 but most keepers split to prevent swarms?
Having damaged wings would mark the queen as defective to the workers. Time to replace the mother queen with a new sister queen
What is the purpose of the flat board on top of your hives?
j It’s basically an umbrella. Keeps the landing board and upper entrance relatively dry. Shade in summer. Also, it preserves the wooden ware.
I was a nervous wreck my first marking. I had my my boss lady in the traditional plunger I mean queen crusher.😁😎👍
Hi, i have a question. I am looking for new hive without bees.. where do you buy your hives?
Can you please say because i made a Swarm trap and i will put in the next summer
I really enjoy your channel...I've learned so much about beekeeping from you ! BTW is your dog still around ? I haven't noticed her lately
Yup, she's around. She's nearing 15 and doesn't make it up the hill too often anymore. She'd rather hang out by the house.
queen bees do need to be marked in case of swarming or supersedeure; how will you know if the queen has been replaced or the age of your queens unless you mark them
I enjoy plucking the queens off the frames to mark and clip their wing; maybe with that gadget you can clip a wing?
It was done, so quick and simple. Now a little rhyme to go with it.
1 queen, 2 queen, red queen, blue queen, this one has a little dot. This one does not have a spot. My what a lot of queens I got. Some are red and some are blue, some are old and some are new. Do you know which queen is the one that flew ?
Take care and thanks once again for a great video.
Thanks, I'm buying unmarked queens fro an Iowa Apiary.
I ordered a package of honey bees and I saw the queen and after three days when she was released she started laying eggs after
Few days she was gone we I did not see her. Then I found a new queen is that normal or not
Hurray!!! Now, not only will it be easier for you (and us) to see your queens, but you will know if your queen left or was killed when you don't find one.
Thought you might wait a few minutes before release to make sure the paint had dried
I was going to leave that part in the video but I thought it would be like watching paint dry.
Make sure when you are marking queens in the future that you leave her in the queen catcher so the mark will dry and you won’t have to remarked her ever.
Good tip.
Can anybody say where i can buy cool and good hive?
I think I’d start in the spring instead of the fall.
I wish in next month,like that doing.✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🇰🇼🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Just a watcher here but why can't you use the dark blue or the pink marker??
Tenmina B
That is an international color code used by beekeepers everywhere. He posted more information at the top and pinned it there so its easy to find.
Dark blue is for boys, as a queen she’s not a boy
Pink is for girls and we already know that
Plus the whole international color code thing
And if you caught a swarm...do you put a Question mark on her....LOL
How funny, I already use these pens to mark my girlfriends on the pinky so I can tell what year they are from. When I go clubbing it's so much easier to find her among the others. Good job.
Hey Jim! Way to go! Your Channel is great! Ive watched you keep your bees for the last 3 years and have had the benefit of watching your significant growth. I remember when you were first starting out and you couldn't even get your smoker started! HAHA! How far you have come in such as short amount of time! Well done! Ive learned a-lot from you and am excited to learn more. I don't have enough room on at my house to keep bee's, which is very sad, but I enjoy living vicariously through your channel.
Have you thought about installing a temp/humidity sensor in your hive? It might help you diagnose issues and keep tabs on them. I use one around the house that works well for me you might find useful. Its called SensorPush on amazon that is small and works via bluetooth. ( @t )
Have you thought about making a video about things you have noticed these last few years? For instance, things you have done that have worked/failed? Such as the solar wall, insulation, fondent, syrup, varroa mite issues, etc. Just an overall tutorial for people just starting out? Best practice? Schedules? Also, can you show us how you spot the difference is between the cells (pollen, honey, brood, eggs etc ) How can you tell the difference between them?
I did use these marker but bees clean it from queen :(
Afghan Beekeeper Wait a little before returning the queen to give the paint a chance to dry.
Today I caught a queen to mark. Something looked wrong so I looked her over really well.
Her left center leg looked like it was missing so I looked closer. She has a leg but her 'foot' is deformed. I thought I'd injured her . Must be deformed or a fighting injury.
QUEEN STUMPY!
I don't name queens but this time I will.
To the 1 person that downvoted this video. Please get a life. Awesome video I loved it. I might have to get those things next year if I can grow my hives.
I read it as "Making a queen". When are you going to make your own queens !?
Why can't pink be used?
And dark blue?
There are standardized colors in the bee world for marking the year queens were born. Some apiaries use other colors (like if they’re breeding a specific line for something), but generally they go off the standard colors/years so they can keep track of how old their queens are.
You can use it if you like, but there are standard colors for marking queens. There is a color code to denote which year a queen was bred:
Years ending:
1 or 6 - WHITE.
2 or 7 - YELLOW.
3 or 8 - RED.
4 or 9 - GREEN.
5 or 0 - BLUE.
Got a big box of pens and prefer the pastel colors. Way easier to see pastels in the hive. The worst is yellow and for myself I'll use orange on yellow years. The big box of pens is the way to go. Pink is what I used this year. Works great.
I know a guy who uses pink to mark his "breeder" queens that he never plans to sell.
So... 9 Reds and 2 Yellows? or 2 Whites?
Balboa got a yellow. The Russian already had a yellow, but I couldn't find her to refresh the dot. All the others I saw that day got RED. The nuc I got this year came with a blue dot even though she was bred this year. It had something to do with the breeder.
I bet it was harder to do the Russians queen.
LOL
They are a little defensive....
I broke the 666 like curse
And people charge 5 to ten bucks for that lol
LOL it is not ALWAYS that easy!
music music music .how to spoil a vid...
It is easy and completely unnecessary. Stop it.