Set of Queen Bee Marking Pens
Queens tend to progressively lose productivity in egg laying after a couple of years (Note: there tends to be wide variation in productivity between different queens). To assist beekeepers in “remembering” the age of a queen in each colony, a system of Queen marking colours has been adopted.
The Queen is marked with a spot of paint on her thorax (the black glossy area behind the eyes) using a marking pen with the current year colour. The colours for 2014-2018 are shown below:-
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Green | Blue | White | Yellow | Red |
.
These mnemonics may help you
to work out the correct colour.
| Be | Warned | You | Require | Gloves |
| Blue | White | Yellow | Red | Green |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
.
| Will | You | Rear | Good | Bees |
| White | Yellow | Red | Green | Blue |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
The mid blue pen supplied by some bee equipment suppliers is not so easy to see as the Sky Blue option which can be purchased online for less cost with free postage.