I painted her head

[yes2matt]

Vid says it all. Do you think it will be ok? Or might they supersede her?  I moved a frame of her eggs n larvae to a queenless nuc just in case.

Mods feel free to move this to the "worst mistakes " thread if it is appropriate :/




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[Jen]

Hey Yes! I think it looks fine. When I was first marking queens last summer, I had some queens looking pretty sloppy, even tho I practiced on a lot of drones. But the bees still excepted the sloppy queens. I would say that I had about a 90% success rate of queens surviving the marking and being excepted.

May I ask what kind of paint pen you used?

[yes2matt]

Hey Yes! I think it looks fine. When I was first marking queens last summer, I had some queens looking pretty sloppy, even tho I practiced on a lot of drones. But the bees still excepted the sloppy queens. I would say that I had about a 90% success rate of queens surviving the marking and being excepted.

May I ask what kind of paint pen you used?

Oh I hope you're right!

I used a long leaf pine needle dipped in Testors.

I should have practiced on drones.

[Jen]

You can still practice on drones, just use a different color    You can also practice on a couple of drones, get your courage up, and go get your queen.

[efmesch]

It may not be perfect, but I don't think it is so bad as to lead to supercedure.  The queen''s behavior seems normal and that is the main thing to be concerned about.

[yes2matt]

It may not be perfect, but I don't think it is so bad as to lead to supercedure.  The queen''s behavior seems normal and that is the main thing to be concerned about.

Well she was using her second set of legs to try to clean her thorax, and you can see her trying to clean the top of her head on the other bees.

We'll see I guess. She's a queen I want to have in the yard.

[Jen]

Hi Yes, so this is just for future reference. I think your queen is going to be fine. A couple years back I researched what kind of paint should be used on queens, in that the paint should have no odor, and somewhat breathable paint, not an enamel. Back in the day fingernail polish and White Out was the paints the beeks used, but seems there were more queen supercedures. Beeks felt it may have been the odor of those products.

Pasco paint pens are the recommended paint that I know of up to now. Mann Lake does sell only the color that is this years color, which is yellow for about $7, then next year another color for that year. For me tho, I'm not marking my queens for how old the queen is, I mark them with Pasco Pink, because that color pops our like a light bulb when I'm trying to find the queen to make a split. But I cannot get just the pink pen, I choose to buy the set of paint pens in order to get the pink pen. Then I give the rest of the pens to my family artists. Buying the set of Pasco's, medium point, is a bit spendy tho. But they last a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/Uni-Posca-Marker-Medium-PC-5M8C/dp/B000IGY28M/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1496595546&sr=8-24&keywords=posca+paint+pens

[Bakersdozen]

I don't have an answer for you, but just wanted to say that I am glad I am not a queen bee!  I wouldn't want all those attendants up in my business like that!     Privacy, please.

[Jen]

LOL, Baker, That is soo funny!

[LazyBkpr]

  Find a cork that fits in teh testers paint bottle. Drill a 1/8th inch hole in it. Take a second cork and "screw" the drill bit into that cork, leaving the bottom of the bit sticking out.

   Put the cork with the hole in it into the bottle of paint firmly. Slide teh butt end of the drill bit into the hole. The hole is sealed so the paint will no tdry out.. when ready to mark, pull teh drill bit out, the cork wipes off all excess paint, leaving a tiny dab on teh end of the drill bit. Touch on the queen, and slide it back into the cork/hole

   Try it, it will astonish you how well it works and how easy it is to do/use

[yes2matt]

I showed the video to a friend and hit pause... there is a MITE on one of those beautiful bees!

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[Jen]

Oxalic Acid vaporizer .... Hurry! If you can't wait for that to get to your house, then Formic Acid pads.

[yes2matt]

Oxalic Acid vaporizer .... Hurry! If you can't wait for that to get to your house, then Formic Acid pads.

She is the entrance to my yard  of a second line of bees that haven't been medicated. So, in this case, no. I'll get the pens though, thanks!

[Jen]

 'I'll get the pens though, thanks!'

?? 

[yes2matt]

'I'll get the pens though, thanks!'

??

The Pasco pens you recommended...

[Jen]

LOL... Oh yah that!    oy vey my memory 

[yes2matt]

Verdict is in: they superseded her.

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[efmesch]

Oh well, you can't win them all.

[Dunkel]

I'm getting ready mark some for the first time, I'm not sure I am looking forward to it after this.

[Wandering Man]

I'm getting ready mark some for the first time, I'm not sure I am looking forward to it after this.

I bought one of those fancy Chinese marking pens.  The first time I used it, I didn't realize you have to push down on the nib to prime the marker.

The second time I used it, I didn't realize you really do have to wait several minutes before putting her back in the hive.  Her attendants made quick work of the marking, and left her nicely cleaned up within seconds.

The third time I used it, I didn't realize that she would wipe away most of the marking on her own before the liquid dried.

The next time I use it ... well, I think I'll just go out and buy a bottle of Testor's paint.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/1191TT-Sunflower-1-4-oz/39759286?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227027505566&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=54707122031&wl4=aud-310687322322:pla-90039494231&wl5=9027925&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=39759286&wl13=&veh=sem