Information about marking queen bees for beekeepers from what colour to use in 2024 and 2025 along which which pens are the best to use. The international queen marking colours code was created to allow beekeepers to mark their queens using a code which all other beekeepers, wherever they were in the world, would understand. The colours are used to show which year the queen was born in, they also help to enable beekeepers to spot the queen when doing a hive inspection.
Colour Chart for Queen MarkingWill You Rear Good Bees? The color guide for marking bees is based on the year the queen was born, with five traditional colors used: white, yellow, red, green, and blue. This system helps beekeepers ensure they are dealing with the same queen over time by adhering to a standardized color scheme. Queens born in years ending with 1 and 6 use a white posca pen, while years ending with 2 and 7 use a yellow posca pen.
Learn how queen bee marking color codes have evolved over the years, from early methods to standardized systems, and discover best practices for accurate marking. The scheme for marking the queens is an international scheme and all countries adopt the same colours. Thus if you are lucky enough to collect a swarm with a marked queen you know the year is started as a queen.
Since honey bee colonies, and hence queen honey bees, can survive a number of years a system of Queen marking colours has been devised which, if followed, give an indication of the age of the Queen. The Queen is marked with a spot of paint on her thorax (between the head and abdomen) and the colour scheme is as follows: See Chart Below. e.g.
How To Mark Her You can mark the queen with either a special colouring pen, paint or even a stick-on dot. You can buy either of these queen marking kits from most bee suppliers (including us). What Colour Or Choose? Unfortunately there isn't a large colour swatch to choose from.
In fact there is an international colour code for bees. Queen marking pen available in 5 colours. Guide to colours and years; 2021.
Details of how to mark your queens, or spot the age of a queen bee in your colony or swarm.