Queen Marking
Lexikon
Queen marking is the marking of a bee queen with a small dot of color on the thorax, usually using a lacquer-like marking pen or a glued-on opalith disc.
Queen marking is the marking of a bee queen with a small dot of color on the thorax, usually using a lacquer-like marking pen or a glued-on opalith disc. Internationally, a standardized color code that repeats every five years has become established for this, which allows the queen's year of emergence to be read off from the color alone, without having to consult any records.
The color sequence is white, yellow, red, green, blue, and it repeats every five years in the same order, with each color tied to the last digit of the year. As a memory aid, beekeepers use a German mnemonic rhyme built on those five colors in order. The five colors match the maximum working life of a queen of about five years, so that each color stays unambiguous within a stock of colonies, as long as no noticeably older queens are still in circulation.
For everyday work with the colony, marking mainly makes it easier to quickly find the queen on the comb and to check her age when planning breeding, since experience shows that older queens weaken over time. A common mistake among inexperienced beekeepers is using too much paint or glue when marking and accidentally gluing shut the queen's spiracles or compound eyes, which is why marking should always be done with a steady hand and in a small amount.