>I have a few hives that I started with swarms.  Right now, the queens are
>very productive.  However, I'd like to mark them, if and when I see them,
>so that I can easily find them this fall when I plan to requeen.
>
>My question is: Can I remove the queen, cage and mark her, then reintroduce
>her to the same colony in a cage with a candy plug?  What time of day
>should I introduce her?  How long should I leave her out before I
>reintroduce her?  The hives are in my backyard, so travel time is not a
>consideration.
>
>Thank you
>Steve Newcomb

Steve,

There are several things to take into consideration when marking your
queens...

1. Are you comfortable going into your hives without gloves?  If you're not,
I don't suggest trying to mark a queen.  The gloves will very likely result
in the maiming of your queen as capturing a queen takes a certain amount of
deftness and care that gloves just can't give you (and it's very rare that a
queen will sting you... they like using their stingers on other queens
instead).  Queens are robust, but are no match for a pair of heavy gloves.

There are "queen catchers" on the market I've seen, but have not tried any
myself.  They just seem to be one more piece to control between your fingers
and the queen.  One of the catchers I've seen advertised looks like a
butterfly clip, and another one looks like a mesh screen that you place over
the queen and gently press into the comb until she's no longer able to move
(and killing brood in the process no doubt).  My advise is to forget the
contraptions and use your fingers.

2. If you've never caught a queen before, don't start out your quest trying
to catch one!  Practice catching and marking drones instead (they won't
sting you either... they have no stingers!).  Smoke the hive lightly so the
bees aren't scurrying around the comb like crazy, it will make the job
easier.  Using your thumb and forefinger gently grab a drone by the thorax
(you NEVER want to grab the queen by the abdomen... it could damage her
egg-laying ability).  As you're pulling the bee off the comb, take your
middle finger of the same hand and bring it underneath him (or her) to
support the legs and abdomen.

3. Use a quick-drying fingernail polish and put a small dot on top of the
thorax, making sure you don't get any on the wings, head, etc.  When
practicing on drones, use a different color than you will be using on the
queen so your eyes don't always target those drones when you go back into
the hive looking for the marked queen.

If you want to follow the international color-coding system, mark your
queens with red if they were introduced last year (the queens you get this
fall will be marked with green).  Let the paint dry for a couple minutes and
turn the bee loose back on the comb.  Once you've marked the queen she will
more than likely scurry right back down into the darkness (drones will
wander around or maybe even fly away, but usually not the queen).

4. Once you've practiced on several drones from a hive, I wouldn't bother
trying to find the queen as you will probably have had the hive open long
enough anyway.  Besides, she will be more difficult to find with all the
action that was going on.  Come back to it another day.  Go on to another
hive for more practice until you're absolutely confident you have the
"technique" down.

5. Since this operation only takes a few minutes (once you find the queen)
and mark her right there on the spot, she is returned before the bees even
new she was gone!  I've found that you can keep a queen out of the hive
anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or so before they start to miss her.
Since there was no caging, waiting or re-introduction the bees are stressed
less and can pick back up where they left off.

6. As for what time of day is best, whenever the peak number of bees are out
foraging as you'll have less bees in the hive to look through to find the
queen.  That's usually around 10:00-11:00, but varies with the nectar flow
of the blooms they're working in your area.  Morning or afternoon, just make
sure it's a good day to work the bees!

My biggest recomendation would be to go after those drones and practice,
practice, practice!  Especially if you only have a few hives in your back
yard and no nucs or other queens ready to fall back on, the last thing you
want to do is take a good queen out of operation!

I hope this helps Steve... take care and good luck!
--David Scribner
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