Marking Queens
Queen bees are the matriarch of any hive, although they don’t dictate the day-to-day of the hive,
their presence in a hive is paramount to the succession of the hive’s longevity. For decades
beekeepers have followed a pattern set by monarch Queen Elizabeth II of England through the 5
year-cycle of her designer outfits.
Whilst some beekeepers stick true to this colour
scheme others choose to not mark at all and others choose to mark to their own beat.
I remember being hesitant to mark my first queens in my early apiary days as I worried about the
health and well-being of each queen however as the number of hives have grown I’ve learnt the following
reasons as to why it can be beneficial to mark these elegant ladies:
Know when your hive has swarmed or naturally re-queened
The ability to ‘read’ your hive is an invaluable tool that only you can provide, you see them each day and you know their activity and their tempurment and thier history and even the best, calmest and most content hives will eventually naturally re-queen or swarm at some point in their life. Marking the queen will assist you in the journey to learning how to read your hive and may be the evidence and reassurance you need to make informed decisions reguarding your hives future monarch
Know how old your queen is
Did your queen can live up to 5 years, that’s a heck of a long time in one hive! Although once she surpasses 2 years old she does not lay as proficiently as she once did and overall the productivity of the hive will slowly decease as she ages, she will lay less eggs each season and as she reaches the end of her life she will lay more and more drone eggs thus the overall honey production of the hive will decrease.
It’s a personal choice to re-queen after 2 years (or at all) but knowing when your current queen came into rein can assist you to make calculated decisions should you choose to re-queen your hive naturally or buy in a new breeder queen
Unmanagable Hives
Your queen is the one and only source of baby bees, so if she has temperament problems and you are forced to requeen for fear of being chased out of your own backyard then finding a marked queen quickly and efficiently is paramount. I’m speaking mostly from experience, one of my many hives, Patricia, is my most productive hive and yet we are 2 years in and I have not been able to work the hive long enough to find her EVER! Aggressive is an understatement and apparently ‘allusive’ is her middle name!
Considering we are urban beekeepers it looks like re-queening is the only option and yet I need to set aside several hours to find her once a new queen is purchased in the hope of re-gaining some backyard peace
Marking queens is 100% a personal choice and only you know what is best for your hive and your environment, I personally mark all my queens and have found that it assists me to manage them better and it has shortened brood inspection times. Believe in your journey and remember that regardless as to whether your mark or don’t mark, ensure that you are keeping true and correct records of your hive activities as it is a legal requirement for all QLD beekeepers (hobbyist and commercial)