Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the paint or glue to dry, and place her back in the colony. This takes some practice
and is the method most likely to damage a queen. Try it on drones first. If you try
it on workers, you will be stung.
A small cage can be constructed or purchased that is held over the queen on the
comb. The workers can escape through the cage, but the queen is too big. The
cage is pressed onto the comb until the queen is trapped fast, and the paint is
then applied. Wait until the paint is dry before removing the cage. This method is
simple and is less likely to damage a queen.
A queen catcher can be employed. You put the queen in a marking cage where she
is pushed up to a screen a sponge plunger. Once trapped against the screen, apply
paint to her thorax and allow this to dry before releasing her.
I personally find marking queens useful: it makes my colony inspections faster and
easier. I never touch a queen by hand, however, when marking her. I always employ
a queen catcher and a press-on cage, and I mark the queen through the grid with a
marking pen (see Figure 30). This is a safe and easy method. I normally use white
whatever year it is, mainly because I never seem to have the appropriate colour to hand
and, if I can't find my pen, I use typewriting correction fluid (this comes with a handy
little brush).
Fig. 30 . A plastic queen catcher (with the openings blocked) and a marking pen
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