Queen Marking – How To with video

There are good reasons to have your queens marked, including:

  1. Ease in locating the queen during inspections.
  2. Confirm the hive hasn’t swarmed.
  3. Confirm the queen hasn’t been superseded. This can be very important in areas that have Africanized honeybees.

Unfortunately, many folks don’t have marked queens. Whether it not being an option when the purchased their queens, not wanting to pay the extra money to have it done, or they have raised their own queens.

For those that realize the benefit of having marked queens and would like to mark their queens, I have included a short demonstration video below.

Next time you see a bee on a milkweed blossom, pause to appreciate the amazing, sometimes perilous relationship between flower and pollinator. With a little awareness, we can help all pollinators—both native and introduced—thrive in our gardens!
 

Have you spotted bees wrestling with milkweed? Have you noticed the pollinia attached to their legs? Share your experiences below!

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9 Comments

  1. Matt
    Matt on September 5, 2007 at 7:32 AM

    Thanks Robo. You make that look easy.

    Reply
    • Robo
      Robo on September 5, 2007 at 8:05 PM

      It is relatively easy once you over come the anxiety of picking up the queen. What is nice about this method is you don’t have to worry about squeezing too hard like when you hold her by the body. Try it on a few drones first, you’ll get comfortable with it quickly.

      Reply
  2. Scott
    Scott on October 18, 2007 at 5:42 PM

    Robo –

    She won’t sting you when you do this? I’ve only read queens save stinging for killing other queens mostly.

    Regards,

    Scott

    Reply
    • Robo
      Robo on October 18, 2007 at 8:08 PM

      Scott,

      I’ve never been stung by a queen nor know anyone who has. I have heard the same about queens stinging queens, but have never witnessed that either 🙂

      Rob..

      Reply
  3. Vladimir
    Vladimir on February 2, 2008 at 1:36 AM

    Hi Robo.
    Thanks for providing this great video aid in marking queens. I have always been a bit nervous but am now a bit more assured. Will you provide some more management videos in the near future?:-)
    Thanks again,
    Vladimir (from Georgia)

    Reply
    • Robo
      Robo on February 2, 2008 at 8:10 PM

      Vladimir,
      Glad you found the video useful and hopefully it gave you the confidence to try it yourself. I’m hoping to do some more videos on the use of the Cloake board for queen rearing. I’m open for suggestions if there is anything else you’d like to see.
      Rob…

      Reply
  4. comb
    comb on February 18, 2009 at 6:56 PM

    thank for the video cloake board would be appreciated also . do you sell queens?

    Reply
    • Robo
      Robo on February 18, 2009 at 8:04 PM

      Hi comb,

      A Cloake Board video is on my todo list, just seems like I have a million things going on during the summer. Hopefully this year 🙂
      Yes I sell queens, my stock is all untreated ferals.

      Reply

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