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  • Marking Queens

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #8465  by Patrick
 11 Aug 2020, 22:49
nealh wrote: I tend to see mark her on the comb when stops but every now and then it's goes a bit awry .
Sounds exciting, must give it a try. Rather like the Golden Shot, but an exciting version. Next time I reach for the pen I can murmur “Bernie, the bolt please...” 😁
 #8467  by NigelP
 12 Aug 2020, 09:00
Like many I like usually use a Crown of Thorns. Immobilises queen on comb and gives me time to check pens and have scissors handy before marking and sometimes you get lucky and a wing protrudes through. Otherwise I mark and clip later. Clipping I usually have scissors in one hand and pin queen to comb with thumb and forefinger and clip.
However, I've been playing around with these push and turn cages from Thornes. The beauty of these is you cannot crush the queen as they have a stop to prevent you doing that. You do need to pick up queen to pout her in (remarkably easy when you realise how tough they actually are, just use their wings as your gripping point) , but the other advantage is you get rid of the rest of the bees that can be a nuisance when you are trying to mark your queen in CofT.

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 #8480  by Steve 1972
 12 Aug 2020, 17:22
As per Nigel them turn and mark plunger cages are the safest by far for me..i have arthritis in the ends of all my finger which can make them stiff and not very dexterous so i can never attempt to pick a Queen up unless she needs purposely dispatching.. when i find the Queen i walk away from the hive with the frame and coral her gently into the tube using the sponge plunger end to guide her in..after that i can push the plunger in and hold the Queen in one of the slots..i mark first then slightly turn the plunger till a wing is exposed for clipping and the beauty of the sponge all six feet are firmly planted in the sponge so you have little chance of cutting a leg off..also i like to have two(should be four) of those turn and mark cages in case i have to mark more than one Queen at any given time to stop mixing pheromones from each Queen..