Which Year Reared Great Britain
This being the year of our lord 2009 the colour coding used in the hives is green. Since the advent of Varroa this important part of the Integrated Pest Management system has become vital for the health of the colony. By using a colour coding system the bee keeper can know at a glance the age of the frames in the hive and the age of a queen. The caption I used for this photo is taken directly from Beekeeping Study Notes (Modules 1,2,3&4) by J.D & B.D. Yates – the preferred BBKA manual.
White for years ending 1 or 6, Yellow for years 2 or 7, Red for years 3 or 8, Green for years 4 or 9 and Blue for years 5 or 0.
Due to pesticides and other contaminates it is advisable to replace wax in frames regularly, although the wax discarded, rendered into blocks, are often sold to the large beekeeping suppliers to turn into new foundation. How much contamination remains in the new foundation sheets is any one’s guess!
Marking the Queen
The same colour coding is used on queens for a given year and here we can see a queen having been marked. Another advantage of marking the queen is that it makes it easier to spot her when surrounded by thousands of her daughters. The queens safety and well being are paramount – you wouldn’t want to squash her by accident! Though this is not to say you would want to squash her deliberately !
At all times when handling the queen it is a no no to grasp her by the abdomen – always by the thorax and very gently at that!
Queen handling can be practiced on the good old boys – the drones. They have no sting – the same apparatus serves a different distinctly male function. Drones have a hard life I think. They may well do no work and jaunt between hives as gaily as they wish being fed by thousands of busy girls but at the end of the day…. Contemplate the concept of having no defense mechanism – no sting – when pursued by hungry hornets, the mass expulsion at the onset of autumn from house and home – starvation..and all for the glory of dying once the act of mating is complete. Sad because they are so sweet and helpless.
About Ahipara
Beekeeping Number Crunching Workaholic!
