Marking your queen is one of those skills that sounds harder than it is. A queen that's marked means you can find her fast during inspections, tell her age at a glance (using the international year-colour system), and know immediately if the colony has superseded her. Here's how to do it one-handed with a marking cage, without bruising her or losing her to grass.
The international queen-colour year system
Beekeepers use a standard colour cycle so any keeper anywhere in the world can tell a queen's age: white (years ending 1 or 6), yellow (2 or 7), red (3 or 8), green (4 or 9), blue (5 or 0). If you're marking a queen introduced in 2026, use yellow. 2027 uses red. Easy to forget — stick the key to your hive tool or on the inside of your bee suit pocket.
What you'll need
- Queen marking cage with plunger
- Queen-safe paint marker (Posca PC-5M is the standard)
- A calm, warm day — 15°C+ ideally, not during a nectar dearth
- Patience
Step-by-step
- Find the queen on a frame. Work through brood frames carefully. If she's camera-shy, isolate her side of the hive with a queen excluder and re-inspect.
- Place the cage over the queen on the frame surface. The mesh holds her in place against the comb.
- Press the plunger down gently but firmly until she's held against the mesh. Firm enough that she can't crawl, not so firm that you compress her body. The spring gives you tactile feedback.
- Apply a small dot of the year's colour to her thorax through the mesh opening. The thorax — never the abdomen. Abdomen marking can interfere with scent communication and isn't as durable.
- Wait 30 seconds for the paint to set. Don't rush this step.
- Release the plunger slowly, lift the cage away, and return the frame to the hive. She'll go back to laying within minutes.
Common mistakes
- Using a permanent marker or solvent-based pen. Solvents can kill the queen. Use water-based paint pens only.
- Gripping the queen's abdomen. Never squeeze the abdomen — you can rupture her ovaries. Always use the cage.
- Marking in cold or damp weather. Paint takes too long to set, and you risk the queen getting chilled.
- Practicing on your best queen first. Mark a drone from a small nuc first — drones can't sting, and it gives you a feel for plunger pressure without risking your breeder.
FAQ
What if I accidentally paint her abdomen?
Most likely nothing — she'll continue to function. But the paint won't last, and she might groom it off quickly. Mark again on the thorax next inspection.
Can I mark a virgin queen?
Yes, but virgin queens are skittish and fly more readily. Mark inside an enclosed nuc box rather than in an open hive to reduce flight risk.
How do I tell marking colour year if I find an unmarked queen?
You can't — all you know is she's older than this season. If you care about age tracking, mark her now with the current year's colour as your "earliest known date."
Need a cage? Our One-Handed Queen Bee Marking Cage is built for this exact workflow.
