Your queen bee is the beating heart of your colony. A queen’s health and well-being will influence the entire colony, and if a failing queen is not addressed, you might find yourself with a less healthy, less productive hive. While the old adage “Never ask a lady her age” is still good advice for humans, when it comes to bees, it’s essential you can easily identify the age of your queen. Read on as we break down the easiest ways to tell your queen’s age plus the elements of your colony most affected by an aging queen. We have also included some extra tips on what to do if your queen has passed her peak productive years.
How To Tell Your Queen’s Age
Take Note Of Colour Markings
Did you know that there is an International Queen Marking Colour Code? This code assigns a specific colour to each year, helping you recognise when you introduced your queen. So when you are starting your hive or introducing a new queen, make sure you mark your queen with the appropriate colour below:
– White: Years ending in 1 or 6
– Yellow: Years ending in 2 or 7
– Red: Years ending in 3 or 8
– Green: Years ending in 4 or 9
– Blue: Years ending in 5 or 0
Accurate Record Keeping
It is essential to maintain accurate and up-to-date records of when you inspect your hives and introduce new queens. These records will make it easier to determine your queen’s age.
Assess Physical Factors
While not as precise as colour marking, you can gain some insights about your queen’s age based on her physical appearance. Older queens typically exhibit shorter wings, a duller thorax, and a smaller abdomen compared to younger queens, which have glossy thoraxes and fuller abdomens.
Inspect Colony Behaviour
An older queen will naturally diminish her pheromone production as she ages, so keep an eye out for increased swarming or supersedure (replacement) activity, as these may indicate an aging queen.
The Impact Of Your Queen’s Age.
An older queen will have an incredible impact on the productivity and health of your colony especially in these 4 ways:
Egg Laying
Peak performance for a queen is within the 1-2 year age range. Once beyond this age, you will notice that your queen may reduce her egg-laying capacity, which will lead to a weaker colony.
Temperament
As previously mentioned, pheromone production lowers as a queen ages; this may lead to a less calm colony. The queen may also struggle to suppress aggressive behaviours in the colony.
Productivity
Reduced egg laying means less of a workforce for foraging and honey production. You may see a much smaller honey extraction with an aging queen.
Disease
A younger queen is better equipped to resist diseases and illness as they will have greater genetic diversity than their older counterparts.
What To Do With An Aging Queen
Check Your Hive’s Health
Ensure you regularly check your hive for signs of an aging queen, like reduced productivity and abnormal behaviour.
Requeen
Ideally, you should replace your queen every 1-2 years to ensure your colony can maintain its peak performance. Check out our 5 frame nuc hive and Plastic Queen Rearing Frame to ensure you have all the tools for the job.
Mark Your New Queen
If you do successfully requeen, mark your new queen with our Queen Marking Pen and keep accurate records of new queen activity.
Check out our full range of queen-breeding accessories if you are ready to breed a new queen, and make sure to stock up on your beekeeping essentials from our online store to ensure your colony has all the space needed to grow and thrive.